Lucy  -fitch  -Per 


Southern  Branch 
of  the 

University  of  California 

Los  Angeles 


"P4-13 


This  book  is  DUE  on  the  last  date  stamped  below 


NOV.  1  4  1924 


NOV  5     192 

OEC  I  "  1^ 


1936 
MAR      8  1954 

NOV  1.3  1982 


i 


p 

MAR   16  1931 

>JUL  1  8  193f 
JUN  3     193» 


Form  L-9-15ni-8,'24 


^,419T8 


U 


This  bool^  belong  to 


THE  SWISS  TWINS 

By  Lucy  Fitch  Perkins 

ILLUSTRATED  BY  THE  AUTHOR 


HOUGHTON  MIFFLIN  COMPANY 
Weft,  i^ibcrsibc  $ress;  Camfonbge 


54121 


COPYRIGHT.    1922,  BY  LUCY  FITCH  PERKINS 
ALL  RIGHTS  RESERVED 


PRINTED  IN  THE  U.S.A. 


TS 
3S3I 


CONTENTS 


I.  THE  RESPONSIBLE  CUCKOO 
II.  THE  TWINS  LEARN  A  NEW  TRADE 
in.  A  MOUNTAIN  STORM 
IV.  THE  LONELY  HERDSMAN 

V.  THE  PASS 
VI.  NEW  FRIENDS  AND  OLD 


37 

65 

85 

117 


I 

THE  RESPONSIBLE  CUCKOO 


I 

THE  RESPONSIBLE  CUCKOO 

HIGH  on  the  kitchen  wall  of  an  old  farm 
house  on  a  mountain-side  in  Switzer 
land  there  hangs  a  tiny  wooden  clock.  In 
the  tiny  wooden  clock  there  lives  a  tiny 
wooden  cuckoo,  and  every  hour  he  hops 
out  of  his  tiny  wooden  door,  takes  a  look 
about  to  see  what  is  going  on  in  the  world, 
shouts  out  the  time  of  day,  and  pops  back 
again  into  his  little  dark  house,  there  to 
wait  and  tick  away  the  minutes  until  it  is 
time  once  more  to  tell  the  hour. 

Late  one  spring  afternoon,  just  as  the  sun 
was  sinking  out  of  sight,  lighting  up  the 
snow-capped  mountains  with  beautiful  col 
ors  and  sending  long  shafts  of  golden  light 
across  the  valleys,  the  cuckoo  woke  with  a 
start. 

3-    v; 


'Bless  me!"  he  said  to  himself.  "Here 
it  is  six  o'clock  and  not  a  sound  in  the 
kitchen!  It  s  high  time  for  Mother  Adolf 
to  be  getting  supper.  What  in  the  world 
this  family  would  do  without  me  I  really 
cannot  think !  They  'd  never  know  it  was 
supper  time  if  I  did  n't  tell  them,  and  would 
starve  to  death  as  likely  as  not.  It  is  lucky 
for  them  I  am  such  a  responsible  bird." 
The  tiny  wooden  door  flew  open  and  he 
stuck  out  his  tiny  wooden  head.  There  was 
not  a  sound  in  the  kitchen  but  the  loud  tick 
ing  of  the  clock. 

"Just  as  I  thought,"  said  the  cuckoo. 
"Not  a  soul  here." 

There  stood  the  table  against  the  kitchen 
wall,  with  a  little  gray  mouse  on  it  nibbling  a 
crumb  of  cheese.  A  long  finger  of  sunlight 
streamed  through  the  western  window  and 
touched  the  great  stone  stove,  as  if  trying  to 
waken  the  fire  within.  A  beam  fell  upon  a 
pan  of  water  standing  on  the  floor  and  sent 
gay  sparkles  of  light  dancing  over  the  shin 
ing  tins  in  the  cupboard.  The  cuckoo  saw 

4 


it  all  at  a  glance.  "This  will  never  do,"  he 
ticked  indignantly.  There  was  a  queer  rum 
bling  sound  in  his  insides  as  if  his  feelings 
were  getting  quite  too  much  for  him,  and 
then  suddenly  he  sent  a  loud  "  cuckoo  "  ring 
ing  through  the  silent  room.  Instantly  the 
little  gray  mouse  leaped  down  from  the  table 
and  scampered  away  to  his  hole  in  the  wall, 
the  golden  sunbeam  flickered  and  was  gone, 
and  shadows  began  to  creep  into  the  cor 
ners.  "Cuckoo,  cuckoo,"  he  shouted  at  the 
top  of  his  voice,  "cuckoo,  cuckoo,  cuckoo," 
—  six  times  in  all,  -  -  and  then,  his  duty 
done,  he  popped  back  again  into  his  little 
dark  house,  and  the  door  clicked  behind 
him. 

Out  in  the  garden  Mother  Adolf  heard 
him  and,  raising  her  head  from  the  onion- 
bed,  where  she  was  pulling  weeds,  she 
counted  on  her  fingers,  "One,  two,  three, 
four,  five,  six !  Bless  my  soul,  six  o'clock  and 
the  sun  already  out  of  sight  behind  old 
Pilatus,"  she  said,  and,  rising  from  her 
knees  a  little  stiffly,  she  stood  for  a  mo- 

5 


ment  looking  down  the  green  slopes  toward 
the  valley. 

Far,  far  below,  the  blue  waters  of  Lake 
Lucerne  mirrored  the  glowing  colors  of  the 
mountain-peaks  beyond  its  farther  shore, 
and  nearer,  among  the  foothills  of  old  Pila- 
tus  itself,  a  little  village  nestled  among 
green  trees,  its  roofs  clustered  about  a  white 
church-spire.  Now  the  bells  in  the  steeple 
began  to  ring,  and  the  sound  floated  out 
across  the  green  fields  spangled  with  yellow 
daffodils,  and  reached  Mother  Adolf  where 
she  stood.  Bells  from  more  distant  villages 
soon  joined  in  the  clamor,  until  all  the  air 
was  filled  with  music  and  a  hundred  echoes 
woke  in  the  mountains. 

The  tiny  wooden  cuckoo  heard  them  and 
ticked  loudly  with  satisfaction.  "  Every 
body  follows  me,"  he  said  to  himself 
proudly.  "  I  wake  all  the  bells  in  the  world." 

"Where  can  the  children  be?"  said 
Mother  Adolf  aloud  to  herself,  looking 
about  the  garden.  "  I  have  n't  heard  a 
sound  from  either  the  baby  or  the  Twins 

6 


for  over  an  hour,"  and,  making  a  hollow 
between  her  hands,  she  added  her  own  bit 
of  music  to  the  chorus  of  the  hills. 


she  sang,  and  immediately  from  behind 
the  willows  which  fringed  the  brook  at  the 
end  of  the  garden  two  childish  voices  gave 
back  an  answering  strain. 


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V            i 



A  moment  later  two  sunburned,  tow- 
headed,  blue-eyed  children,  a  boy  and  girl 
of  ten,  appeared,  dragging  after  them  a 
box  mounted  on  rough  wooden  wheels  in 
which  there  sat  a  round,  pink,  blue-eyed 
cherub  of  a  baby.  Shouting  with  laughter, 
they  came  tearing  up  the  garden  path  to 
their  mother's  side. 

"  Hush,  my  children,"  said  Mother  Adolf, 
laying  her  finger  on  her  lips.  "  It  is  the 
Angelus." 

The  shouts  were  instantly  silenced,  and 
the  two  children  stood  beside  the  mother 

7 


with  clasped  hands  and  bowed  heads  until 
the  echoes  of  the  bells  died  away  in  the  dis 
tance. 

Far  down  on  the  long  path  to  the  village 
a  man,  bending  under  the  weight  of  a  huge 
basket,  also  stood  still  for  a  moment  in  si 
lent  prayer,  then  toiled  again  up  the  steep 
slope. 

"See,"  cried  Mother  Adolf  as  she  lifted 
her  head,  "there  comes  Father  from  the  vil 
lage  with  bread  for  our  supper  in  his  basket. 
Run,  Seppi,  and  help  him  bring  the  bundles 
home.  Our  Fritz  will  soon  be  coming  with 
the  goats,  too,  and  he  and  Father  will  both 
be  as  hungry  as  wolves  and  in  a  hurry  for 
their  supper.  Hark!"  she  paused  to  listen. 

Far  away  from  out  the  blue  shadows  of 
the  mountain  came  the  sound  of  a  horn 
playing  a  merry  little  tune. 

"There's  Fritz  now,"  cried  Mother 
Adolf.  "Hurry,  Seppi,  and  you,  Leneli, 
come  with  me  to  the  kitchen.  You  can  give 
little  Roseli  her  supper,  while  I  spread  the 
table  and  set  the  soup  to  boil  before  the 

8 


goats  get  here  to  be  milked."  She  lifted 
the  baby  in  her  arms  as  she  spoke,  and  set 
off  at  a  smart  pace  toward  the  house,  fol 
lowed  by  Leneli  dragging  the  cart  and 
playing  peek-a-boo  with  the  baby  over  her 
mother's  shoulder. 

When  they  reached  the  door,  Leneli  sat 
down  on  the  step,  and  Mother  Adolf  put 
the  baby  in  her  arms  and  went  at  once  into 

9 


the  quiet  house.  Then  there  was  a  sound 
of  quick  steps  about  the  kitchen,  a  rattling 
of  the  stove,  and  a  clatter  of  tins  which 
must  have  pleased  the  cuckoo,  and  soon 
she  reappeared  in  the  door  with  a  bowl 
and  spoon  in  her  hands. 

The  bowl  she  gave  to  Leneli,  and  little 
Roseli,  crowing  with  delight,  seized  the 
spoon  and  stuck  it  first  into  an  eye,  and 
then  into  her  tiny  pink  button  of  a  nose,  in 
a  frantic  effort  to  find  her  mouth.  It  was 
astonishing  to  Baby  Roseli  how  that  rose 
bud  mouth  of  hers  managed  to  hide  itself, 
even  though  she  was  careful  to  keep  it  wide 
open  while  she  searched  for  it.  When  she 
had  explored  her  whole  face  with  the  spoon 
in  vain,  Leneli  took  the  tiny  hand  in  hers 
and  guided  each  mouthful  down  the  little 
red  lane. 

Over  their  heads  the  robin  in  the  cherry 
tree  by  the  door  sat  high  up  on  a  twig  and 
chirped  a  good-night  song  to  his  nestlings. 
"Cherries  are  ripe,  cherries  are  ripe,  cher 
ries  are  ripe  in  June,"  sang  the  robin.  At 

10 


least  that  is  what  Leneli  told  the  baby  he 
said,  and  surely  she  ought  to  know. 

Before  Baby  Roseli  had  finished  the  last 
mouthful  of  her  supper,  Father  and  Seppi 
appeared  with  the  bundles,  and  then  there 
was  the  clatter  of  many  little  hoofs  on  the 
hard  earth  of  the  door-yard,  and  round  the 
corner  of  the  old  gray  farm-house  came  big 
brother  Fritz  with  the  goats.  With  Fritz 
came  Bello,  his  faithful  dog,  barking  and 
wagging  his  tail  for  joy  at  getting  home 
again.  Bello  ran  at  once  to  Leneli  and 
licked  her  hand,  nearly  upsetting  the  bowl 


ii 


of  milk  in  his  noisy  greeting,  and  the  baby 
crowed  with  delight  and  seized  him  by  his 
long,  silky  ears. 

"Down,  Bello,  down,"  cried  Leneli,  hold 
ing  the  bowl  high  out  of  reach ;  "  you  '11  spill 
the  baby's  supper!"  And  Bello,  thinking 
she  meant  that  he  should  beg  for  it,  sat  up 
on  his  hind  legs  with  his  front  paws  crossed 
and  barked  three  times,  as  Fritz  had  taught 
him  to  do. 

"He  must  have  a  bite  or  he  '11  forget  his 
manners,"  laughed  Fritz,  and  Leneli  broke 
off  a  crumb  of  bread  and  tossed  it  to  him. 
Bello  caught  it  before  it  fell,  swallowed  it 
at  one  gulp,  and  begged  for  more. 

"No,  no,"  said  Leneli,  "good  old  Bello, 
go  now  with  Fritz  and  help  him  drive  the 
goats  to  the  milking-shed,  and  by  and  by 
you  shall  have  your  supper." 

Fritz  whistled,  and  instantly  Bello  was 
off  like  a  shot  after  Nanni,  the  brown  goat, 
who  was  already  on  her  way  to  the  garden 
to  eat  the  young  green  carrot-tops  she  saw 
peeping  out  of  the  ground. 

12 


"It's  time  that  child  was  in  bed,"  said 
the  cuckoo  to  himself,  and  out  he  came 
from  his  little  house  and  called  "cuckoo" 
seven  times  so  reproachfully  that  Leneli 
hastened  upstairs  with  the  baby  and  put 
her  down  in  her  crib  at  once. 

Baby  Roseli  did  not  agree  with  the 
cuckoo.  She  wanted  to  stay  up  and  play 
with  Bello,  and  hear  the  robin  sing,  but 
Leneli  sat  down  beside  the  crib,  and  while 
Mother  Adolf  milked  the  goats  she  sang 
over  and  over  again  an  old  song. 


"Sleep,  baby,  sleep! 
Thy  father  watches  the  sheep, 
Thy  mother  is  shaking  the  dreamland  tree 
And  down  falls  a  little  dream  on  thee. 
Sleep,  baby,  sleep!" 

"Sleep,  baby,  sleep! 
The  large  stars  are  the  sheep, 
The  little  stars  are  the  lambs,  I  guess, 
And  the  silver  moon  is  the  shepherdess. 
Sleep,  baby,  sleep! " 

Over  and  over  she  sang  it,  until  at  last  the 
heavy  lids  closed  over  the  blue  eyes.  Then 
she  crept  quietly  down  the  creaking  stairs 
in  the  dark,  and  ate  her  bread  and  cheese 
and  drank  her  soup  by  candle-light  with 
her  father  and  mother,  Seppi  and  Fritz,  all 
seated  about  the  kitchen  table. 

By  nine  o'clock  the  room  was  once  more 
silent  and  deserted,  the  little  mouse  was 
creeping  quietly  from  his  hole  in  the  wall, 
and  Bello  lay  by  the  door  asleep  with  his 
nose  on  his  paws.  High  over  Mt.  Pilatus 
the  moon  sailed  through  the  star-lit  sky, 
bathing  the  old  gray  farm-house  in  silver 


light  and  playing  hide  and  seek  with  shad 
ows  on  the  snow-capped  peaks. 

"  Cuckoo,"  called  the  tiny  wooden  cuckoo 
nine  times,  and  at  once  the  bells  in  the 
village  steeple  answered  him.  " That's  as 
it  should  be,"  ticked  the  cuckoo.  "That 
church-bell  is  really  very  intelligent.  Let 
me  see ;  to-morrow  morning  I  must  wake  the 
roosters  at  three,  and  the  sun  at  four,  and 
the  family  must  be  up  by  five.  I  '11  just  turn 
in  and  get  a  wink  of  sleep  myself  while  I 
can,"  and  he  popped  into  the  clock  once 
more  and  shut  the  door. 


II 

THE  TWINS  LEARN  A  NEW 
TRADE 


II 

THE  TWINS  LEARN  A  NEW 
TRADE 

AT  five  o'clock  the  next  morning  Father 
and  Mother  Adolf  were  already  up,  and  the 
cuckoo  woke  Fritz,  but  though  he  shouted 
five  times  with  all  his  might  and  main,  nei 
ther  Seppi  nor  Leneli  stirred  in  their  sleep. 

"  Fritz,  go  wake  the  Twins,"  said  Mother 
Adolf,  when  he  came  to  the  door  of  the 
shed  where  she  was  milking  the  goats.  "Only 
don't  wake  the  baby.  I  want  her  to  sleep 
as  long  as  she  will." 

"Yes,  Mother,"  said  Fritz  dutifully,  and 
he  was  off  at  once,  leaping  up  the  creaky 
stairs  three  steps  at  a  time. 

He  went  first  to  Leneli's  bed  and  tickled 
her  toes.  She  drew  up  her  knees  and  slept 


on.  Then  he  went  to  Seppi's  bed,  and  when 
shaking  and  rolling  over  failed  to  rouse  him, 
he  took  him  by  one  leg  and  pulled  him  out 
of  bed.  Seppi  woke  up  with  a  roar  and  cast 
himself  upon  Fritz,  and  in  a  moment  the 
two  boys  were  rolling  about  on  the  floor, 
yelling  like  Indians.  The  uproar  woke  Le- 
neli,  and  the  baby  too,  and  Mother  Adolf, 
hearing  the  noise,  came  running  from  the 
goat-shed  just  in  time  to  find  Seppi  sitting 
on  top  of  Fritz  beating  time  on  his  stomach 
to  a  tune  which  he  was  singing  at  the  top 
of  his  lungs.  The  baby  was  crowing  with 
delight  as  she  watched  the  scuffle  from 
Leneli's  arms. 

Mother  Adolf  gazed  upon  this  lively 
scene  with  dismay.  Then  she  picked  Seppi 
off  Fritz's  stomach  and  gazed  sternly  at  her 
oldest  son.  "Fritz,"  said  she,  "I  told  you 
to  be  quiet  and  not  wake  the  baby." 

"I  was  quiet,"  said  Fritz,  sitting  up.  "I 
was  just  as  quiet  as  I  could  be,  but  they 
would  n't  wake  up  that  way,  so  I  had  to 
pull  Seppi  out  of  bed ;  there  was  no  other 

20 


way  to  get  him  up."  He  looked  up  at  his 
mother  with  such  honest  eyes  that  in  spite 
of  herself  her  lips  twitched  and  then  she 
smiled  outright. 

"I  should  have  known  better  than  to 
send  such  a  great  overgrown  pup  of-a  boy 
as  you  on  such  an  errand,"  she  said.  "  Bello 
would  have  done  it  better.  Next  time  I 
shall  send  him. 

"And  now,  since  you  are  all  awake,  I 
will  tell  you  the  great  news  that  Father 
told  me  last  night.  He  has  been  chosen  by 
the  commune  to  take  the  herds  of  the  vil 
lage  up  to  the  high  alps  to  be  gone  all 
summer.  He  will  take  Fritz  with  him  to 
guard  the  cattle  while  he  makes  the  cheese. 
There  is  no  better  cheese-maker  in  all  the 
mountains  than  your  father,  and  that  is 
why  the  commune  chose  him,"  she  finished 
proudly. 

More  than  anything  else  in  the  world, 
every  boy  in  that  part  of  Switzerland  longs 
to  go  with  the  herds  to  the  high  mountain 
pastures  for  the  summer,  and  Fritz  was  so 

21 


delighted  that  he  turned  a  somersault  at 
once  to  express  his  feelings.  When  he  was 
right  side  up  again,  a  puzzled  look  came  over 
his  face,  and  he  said,  "Who  will  take  care 
of  our  own  goats?" 

"Ah,"  answered  his  mother,  and  she 
sighed  a  little.  "There  is  no  one  but  Seppi 
and  Leneli.  Together  they  must  fill  your 
place,  and  you,  Fritz,  must  take  them  with 
you  to-day  up  the  mountain  to  learn  the 
way  and  begin  their  work." 

"To-day!  This  very  day?"  screamed 
the  Twins.  They  had  never  been  up  to  the 
goat-pastures  in  their  lives,  and  it  was  a 
most  exciting  event. 

Then  Leneli  thought  of  her  mother.  She 
flung  her  arms  about  her  neck.  "  But  who 
will  stay  with  you,  dear  Mother?"  she 
cried.  "All  day  you  will  be  alone,  with 
everything  to  do  and  no  one  to  speak  to 
but  the  baby." 

"Yes,"  sighed  the  mother,  "that  is  true. 
It  will  be  a  long,  lonely  summer  for  me, 
but  there  is  no  other  way,  so  we  must  each 

22 


do  our  part  bravely  and  not  complain.  It  is 
good  fortune  that  Father  and  Fritz  will  both 
be  earning  money  in  the  alps,  and,  with 
wise  old  Bello  to  help  you,  you  will  soon 
be  as  good  goatherds  as  your  brother. 
Come,  now,  hurry  and  eat  your  breakfasts, 
for  the  goats  are  already  milked  and  im 
patient  to  be  gone." 

She  took  Roseli  in  her  arms  and  disap 
peared  down  the  stairs,  and  when,  a  few 
moments  later,  the  Twins  and  Fritz  came 
into  the  kitchen,  she  had  their  breakfast  of 
bread  and  milk  ready  for  them,  and  their 
luncheon  of  bread  and  cheese  wrapped  in 
a  clean  white  cloth  for  Fritz  to  put  in  his 
pocket. 

Father  Adolf  came  back  from  the  gar 
den,  where  he  had  been  hoeing  potatoes, 
to  see  the  little  procession  start  away  for 
the  hills.  First  came  the  goats,  frisking 
about  in  the  fresh  morning  air  and  jingling 
all  their  bells.  Then  came  Bello,  looking 
very  important,  then  Fritz  with  a  cock's 
feather  in  his  cap  and  his  little  horn  and 

23 


his  cup  slung  over  his  shoulder,  and  last 
of  all  the  Twins. 

"It's  a  long  way,  my  children,"  said 
Mother  Adolf,  as  she  kissed  them  good 
bye.  "Your  legs  will  get  tired,  but  you 
must  climb  on  just  the  same.  If  every  one 
stopped  when  he  was  tired,  the  world's 
work  would  never  be  done.  Learn  the  way 
carefully  and  remember  always  to  pray  if 
any  danger  comes.  You  are  very  near  the 

24 


good  God  on  the  mountain,  and  He  will 
take  care  of  you  if  you  ask  Him,  never  fear." 

"Obey  Fritz,"  said  Father  Adolf,  "and 
do  not  stray  off  by  yourselves.  Stay  always 
with  Fritz  and  the  goats." 

"We  will,"  cried  the  Twins,  and  away 
they  ran  to  join  their  brother,  who  was 
already  some  little  distance  ahead  of  them. 
They  turned  as  the  path  rounded  the  great 
cliff  where  the  echoes  lived,  and  the  Twins 
waved  their  hands,  while  Fritz  played  his 
merry  little  tune  on  the  horn.  Then  the 
rocks  hid  them  from  view,  and  the  long 
climb  began  in  earnest. 

It  was  many  rough  uphill  miles  to  the 
alps  where  the  goats  were  pastured,  and 
the  stout  little  legs  ached  with  weariness 
long  before  they  reached  the  patches  of 
green  grass  which  were  reserved  for  them. 
On  the  way  up  they  passed  fields  where 
cows  were  grazing,  and  Bello  had  hard 
work  to  keep  the  goats  in  the  path,  but 
these  pastures  were  only  for  cows,  and 
goats  were  not  allowed  in  them.  For  two 

o 

25 


hours  they  climbed  steadily  up  and  up,  fol 
lowing  a  mountain  path  that  led  sometimes 
beside  a  rushing  brook,  sometimes  along 
the  edges  of  dizzy  precipices,  and  always 
among  rocks  with  wonderful  views  of  dis 
tant  snow-capped  peaks  above  them  and 
green,  green  valleys  below. 

At  last,  when  it  seemed  to  the  weary 
children  that  they  could  not  go  another  step, 
they  came  out  upon  a  high  pasture,  where 
Fritz  called  a  halt.  The  goats  leaped  joy 
fully  forward,  snatching  greedy  mouthfuls 
of  the  rich  green  grass  which  grew  among 
the  rocks.  Bello  flopped  heavily  down  on  a 
flat  stone  with  his  tongue  hanging  out,  and 
Fritz  and  the  Twins  rolled  over  on  their 
backs  on  a  soft  carpet  of  grass  to  rest. 

Almost  at  once  Seppisaid,  "I'm  hungry." 

"So'm  I,"  said  Leneli. 

"You  '11  be  hungry  all  the  time  up  here," 
said  Fritz  encouragingly.  "It's  the  air." 

"Let's  eat,"  urged  Seppi. 

Fritz  took  the  package  of  luncheon  from 
his  pocket  and  opened  it. 

26 


"It  looks  very  small.  It  looks  a  great 
deal  smaller  than  it  did  at  home,"  said 
Leneli.  "  I  wonder  why  ?  " 

"You  are  hungrier  now  than  you  were 
then,"  said  Fritz. 

"I  could  eat  it  all  myself,"  said  Seppi. 

"  But  you  won't,"  laughed  Fritz ;  "  I  '11  see 
to  that."  He  divided  the  bread  and  cheese 
into  three  equal  portions  and  handed  one  to 
each  of  the  Twins.  The  third  he  put  in  his 
own  pocket.  "  Now  I  don't  care  what  you 
do  with  yours,"  he  said;  "only,  if  you  eat  it 
all  now,  you  '11  be  hungry  enough  to  browse 
with  the  goats  before  it 's  time  to  go  home. 
Better  take  just  a  bite  and  a  drink  of  water 
and  eat  more  by  and  by." 

Seppi  looked  hungrily  at  his  portion  and 
took  a  bite.  Then  he  just  could  n't  stop, 
and  before  he  knew  it  his  whole  luncheon 
was  gone  and  it  was  only  nine  o'clock  in 
the  morning ! 

Leneli  took  two  bites  of  hers,  and  then, 
wrapping  it  carefully  in  the  piece  of  cloth, 
placed  it  high  up  on  an  overhanging  rock 

27 


out  of  the  way  of  temptation.  Then,  while 
Fritz  was  teaching  Seppi  all  the  tricks  of  a 
goat-boy's  trade,  she  found  a  soft  patch  of 
grass  all  spangled  with  blue  gentians  and 
fell  asleep  with  her  head  on  her  arm.  She 
slept  for  some  time,  and  Fritz  and  Seppi, 
seeing  how  tired  she  was,  did  not  disturb 
her. 

She  was  roused  at  last  by  the  tinkling 
of  a  goat-bell  almost  over  her  head,  and 
woke  up  just  in  time  to  see  her  luncheon, 
cloth  and  all,  disappearing  into  the  mouth 
of  Nanni,  the  brown  goat!  Poor  Leneli 
screamed  with  dismay,  and  Fritz  and  Seppi, 
thinking  perhaps  she  had  hurt  herself,  came 
dashing  to  her  side.  Leneli  was  boiling 
with  rage.  She  could  only  point  at  Nanni, 
who  stood  calmly  out  of  reach  above  them 
with  the  last  scrap  of  cloth  dangling  from 
her  lips. 

"You  wretched,  black-hearted  pig  of  a 
goat!"  she  screamed,  stamping  her  foot. 
"You  Ve  eaten  every  bit  of  my  lunch,  and 
I'd  only  taken  two  little  teeny  bites!  Oh, 

28 


I  wish   I  'd  eaten  it  all   like  that  greedy 
Seppi!" 

Fritz  and  Seppi  were  sorry,  but  when 
they  saw  the  goat  looking  down  at  Leneli 
so  calmly  while  she  stormed  and  scolded 

29 


below,  they  rolled  over  on  the  ground  help 
less  with  laughter. 

"  It 's  all  very  well  for  you  to  laugh," 
sniffed  Leneli;  "you've  both  got  your 
lunches,"  and  she  went  away  quite  sulkily 
and  sat  down  on  a  stone  by  herself.  Bello 
came  and  sat  beside  her  and  licked  her  hand. 

Fritz  had  to  dash  away  just  then  after  a 
straying  goat,  but  he  was  soon  back  again 
with  his  luncheon  in  his  hand.  "Here,"  he 
said,  "you  can  have  some  of  my  bread  and 
cheese." 

"Oh,  Fritzi,"  said  Leneli  gratefully, 
"you  are  as  good  and  kind  as  that  goat  is 
bad,  but  I  'm  going  to  take  only  a  teeny 
mouthful,  just  to  keep  me  from  starving!" 

"All  right,"  said  Fritz,  holding  the  slice 
of  bread  for  her  to  bite.  "  To-morrow  we  '11 
ask  Mother  to  put  up  more  bread  and 
cheese,  and  if  you  get  hungry  again,  you 
can  milk  old  Nanni  herself  and  get  even 
with  her  that  way." 

"But  I  don't  know  how  to  milk,."  said 
Leneli  with  her  mouth  full. 

3° 


"It's  time  you  learned  then,"  said  Fritz 
briskly.  "You've  seen  Mother  do  it  over 
and  over  again.  Come,  I  '11  teach  you." 

Nanni,  the  goat,  had  leaped  down  from 
her  high  perch,  and  was  now  taking  a  drink 
from  a  little  sparkling  mountain  rill  which 
flowed  through  the  pasture. 

"Come  along,"  said  Fritz.  "There's  no 
time  like  the  present,"  and,  taking  his  cup  in 
his  hand,  he  started  toward  her. 

Leneli  hung  back  a  little.  "  Nanni  is  the 
naughtiest  goat  in  the  whole  flock,"  she 
said  resentfully.  "  If  it  weren't  for  getting 
my  lunch  back,  I  would  n't  try  to  milk 
her." 

It  may  be  that  Nanni  heard  it  and  was 
offended,  or  it  may  be  that  she  knew  that 
she  had  no  milk  to  give  them  so  early  in 
the  morning.  Anyway,  she  made  up  her 
mind  she  would  not  be  bothered  at  that 
time  of  day,  so  as  fast  as  they  came  near 
her,  she  walked  on  a  few  steps,  and  by  the 
time  they  had  reached  that  spot  she  had 
moved  farther  still. 


"We  mustn't  frighten  her,"  said  Fritz. 
"It's  bad  for  the  milk." 

For  some  time  they  patiently  followed 
her  about,  and  at  last  just  as  they  were 
ready  to  lay  hands  upon  her,  she  suddenly 
leaped  upon  a  rock  and  from  that  to  a  higher 
one,  until  she  stood  far  out  of  reach  on  a 
dizzy  overhanging  cliff. 

"That  Nanni!"  cried  Fritz  wrathfully  as 
he  prepared  to  follow  her.  "She'll  break 
her  pesky  neck  and  mine  too  some  day." 


He  climbed  a  tree  for  a  short  cut  to  the 
cliff  and  dropped  from  an  overhanging 
branch  to  the  narrow  shelf  of  rock  in  front 
of  the  goat.  Bello,  meanwhile,  ran  back  and 
forth  below,  barking  like  everything,  but 
quite  unable  either  to  follow  Nanni  up  the 
steep  trail,  or  to  climb  the  tree  as  Fritz  had 
done. 

"Come,  Nanni,"  said  Fritz,  holding  out 
his  hand  as  he  stepped  carefully  toward  her. 

Nanni  sniffed  and  backed.  Leneli  and 
Seppi  watched  from  below,  breathless  with 
anxiety.  If  she  should  back  too  much  she 
might  fall  over  the  cliff  and  be  killed.  If  she 
should  dash  forward  she  might  knock  Fritz 
over  it  instead.  But  Fritz  was  a  wise  goat- 
boy!  He  put  his  hand  in  his  pocket  and 
drew  out  a  handful  of  salt,  which  he  kept 
for  just  such  times  as  this.  He  held  it  out 
toward  Nanni  and  carefully  and  slowly 
backed  away  from  the  edge  of  the  cliff, 
coaxing  her  to  follow  him.  As  she  stepped 
forward,  he  stepped  back,  and  in  this  way 
led  her  by  a  roundabout  path  down  the  far- 

33 


ther  side  of  the  rocks  to  the  place  where 
the  other  goats  were  still  feeding. 

"Oh,  Fritzi,  I  never  could  do  that,"  said 
Leneli,  hugging  him  when  he  was  on  safe 
ground  once  more.  "I  should  be  so  fright 
ened." 

"I  could,"  said  Seppi  promptly;  "I'm 
not  afraid." 

"  Don't  you  try  it,  young  man,"  said  Fritz, 
"  unless  it 's  the  only  thing  you  can  do.  The 
best  goat-boy  is  the  one  who  keeps  his 
goats  from  getting  into  such  places.  It 's 
much  cleverer  to  keep  out  of  trouble  than 
to  get  out." 

They  gave  up  the  milking  lesson  for  the 
time  being,  but  when  the  long  day  was  over 
and  they  were  on  their  way  down  the 
mountain-pass  in  the  late  afternoon,  they 
came  to  a  wide  level  space.  Here  they 
paused,  and,  while  Seppi  stood  with  his 
arm  about  Nanni's  neck  and  fed  her  hand- 
fuls  of  green  grass,  Leneli  really  did  milk 
enough  for  a  refreshing  drink  to  sustain  her 
on  the  long  homeward  journey. 

34 


Singing,  playing  tunes  on  the  horn,  and 
rousing  the  ever-ready  echoes  with  their 
yodels,  they  ran  down  the  steep  mountain 
path  in  a  much  shorter  time  than  it  had 
taken  to  climb  it  in  the  morning,  and  came 
in  sight  of  the  old  farm-house  just  as  the 
Angelus  rang  again  in  the  little  white  vil 
lage  spire.  They  paused  on  the  mountain 
path  and  bent  their  heads,  but  Nanni  was 
not  a  religious  goat!  She  remembered  the 
glimpse  she  had  had  the  night  before  of  green 
things  growing  in  the  garden  and  suddenly 
bolted  down  the  steep  path  at  a  break-neck 
speed.  All  the  rest  'of  the  flock  followed 
pell-mell  after  her,  and  the  children  were 
obliged  to  cut  short  their  prayers  in  order 
to  save  the  carrot-tops  from  being  eaten  up. 

The  last  mile  was  covered  in  record- 
breaking  time,  and  before  the  cuckoo  clock 
struck  seven  the  children  and  goats  and  dog 
all  came  galloping  into  the  yard  together. 


-54121 


Ill 

A  MOUNTAIN  STORM 

THE  next  day,  and  the  day  after  that,  the 
same  lesson  was  repeated.  The  Twins  went 
away  with  Fritz  in  the  early  morning  and 
stayed  all  day  long  with  the  goats  and  came 
home  with  him  in  the  sunset  glow.  But  on 
the  fourth  day  it  was  quite,  quite  different. 
It  was  different  not  only  because  they  were 
to  go  alone  with  the  goats  for  the  first  time, 
but  also  because  it  was  the  day  when  the 
greatest  event  of  the  whole  year  was  to 
happen. 

On  that  very  morning  the  cattle  were  to 
start  away  to  the  high  alps  to  be  gone  all 
summer !  Every  one  in  the  little  gray  farm 
house  was  up  with  the  dawn,  and  while 
Mother  Adolf  milked  the  goats,  the  Twins 
took  their  breakfast  to  a  high  rock  beside 

39 


the  mountain  path,  where  they  could  get 
a  good  view  of  the  village  below.  Father 
Adolf  and  Fritz  had  kissed  Mother  Adolf 
and  the  baby  good-bye  before  daylight,  and 
had  gone  to  the  village  to  get  the  cattle  in 
line  for  their  long  march.  They  did  not 
say  good-bye  to  the  Twins,  for  they  were 
to  join  the  procession  when  it  passed  the 
house,  since  for  the  first  two  miles  the 
paths  to  the  high  alps  where  the  cattle 
grazed  and  to  the  goat-pastures  were  the 
same. 

Leneli  and  Seppi  had  finished  their  bread 
and  milk  and  were  hopping  about  in  great 
excitement  on  the  hill-top,  when  suddenly 
from  the  village  below  there  was  a  burst 
of  gay  music  and  they  knew  that  the  pro 
cession  had  begun  to  move.  Seppi  ran  back 
to  the  milking-shed  as  fast  as  his  legs  could 
carry  him.  "  They  're  coming,  they  're  com 
ing!"  he  shouted. 

"Our  goats  are  ready,"  said  Mother 
Adolf.  "You  and  Bello  may  take  them  out 
to  the  path  and  wait  there  until  the  cattle 

40 


have  passed  by.  Then  you  must  fall  in  be 
hind  them  with  Father  and  Fritz  and  go 
with  them  as  far  as  the  Giant  Pine  Tree 
that  stands  at  the  parting  of  the  paths. 
Father  and  Fritz  will  leave  you  there,  and 


you  and  Leneli  must  go  on  alone.  You  arc 
sure  you  know  the  way  ?  "  She  looked  anx 
iously  into  Seppi's  blue  eyes. 

"Oh,  yes,  Mother,"  said  Seppi,  confi 
dently.  "Don't  you  worry.  I  know  it  well, 
and  so  does  Leneli.  We  can  take  care  of 
the  goats  just  as  well  as  Fritz.  You  '11  see! " 

Seppi,  with  Bello's  help,  drove  the  goats 
to  a  place  where  they  could  crop  the  grass 
beside  the  mountain  path,  and  there  a  few 
moments  later  Mother  Adolf  joined  them, 
dragging  the  baby  in  the  wooden  cart  The 
procession  was  already  in  plain  sight,  wind 
ing  up  the  steep  mountain  path  from  the 
village.  First  came  three  fine  brindled  cows, 
each  with  a  bell  as  big  as  a  bucket  hang 
ing  from  her  neck  and  a  wreath  of  flowers 
about  her  horns.  After  them  came  thirty 
more,  each  with  a  smaller  bell,  marching 
proudly  along  in  single  file  behind  the 
leaders.  All  the  bells  were  jingling,  and  all 
the  people  who  followed  them  from  the  vil 
lage  were  singing  and  yodeling  until  the 
air  was  full  of  jolly  sounds.  The  last  cow 

42 


in  line  carried  the  milking-stool  on  her 
horns,  and  behind  her  walked  Father  and 
Fritz. 

Bello,  who  understood  very  well  what 
was  going  on,  kept  the  goats  herded  to 
gether  beside  the  path,  and  when  Seppi  and 
Leneli,  singing  and  shouting  with  the  rest, 
drove  them  forward,  Bello  marched  proudly 
right  behind  the  goats,  barking  and  wav 
ing  his  tail  like  a  flag. 

Mother  Adolf's  heart  swelled  with  pride 
as  she  watched  her  husband  and  children 
march  away  so  gayly,  but  when  they  had 
disappeared  from  view  and  the  music 
sounded  fainter  and  fainter  as  it  grew  more 
distant,  she  wiped  her  eyes  on  her  apron, 
picked  up  the  Twins'  breakfast-bowls,  and 
went  slowly  with  little  Roseli  back  to  the 
lonely  farm-house.  The  people  from  the 
village  walked  but  a  little  way  up  the  moun 
tain-side,  and  when  they  too  returned  to 
their  homes,  there  were  no  more  songs  and 
yodels,  and  a  great  silence  settled  over  the 
mountain. 

43 


Up  and  up  the  rocky  trail  wound  the 
long  train  of  cattle  and  goats,  until  they 
came  to  the  Giant  Pine  Tree,  and  here 
Father  Adolf  and  Fritz  stopped. 

"Remember,  my  children,"  said  Father 
Adolf  solemnly  to  the  Twins,  "the  goats 
are  our  only  wealth.  If  they  stray  away 
and  are  lost  or  fall  over  a  cliff  and  are  killed, 
the  fault  will  be  yours.  You  must  be  faith 
ful,  watchful,  and  brave,  and  let  nothing 
happen  to  the  goats  lest  we  go  hungry  when 
winter  comes."  Then  he  and  Fritz  said 
good-bye,  and  the  children,  feeling  very 
solemn  and  important,  went  on  their  lonely 
way. 

Bello  was  a  wonderful  dog.  He  could 
count,  for  he  always  knew  when  one  of  the 
goats  was  missing  and  would  run  about 
with  his  nose  to  the  trail  until  he  found  her, 
then  he  would  bark  at  her  heels  until  she 
came  back  to  join  the  flock.  But,  clever  as 
he  was,  he  was  puzzled  when  he  saw  the 
goats  going  in  one  direction  and  Fritz  in 
another.  He  stood  at  the  parting  of  the 

44 


paths  and  looked  first  one  way,  then  the 
other,  and  whined;  then  he  dashed  after 
Fritz. 

"  No,  no,  Bello,  go  with  the  goats,"  cried 
Fritz.  Bello' s  ears  and  tail  drooped,  and  he 
looked  pleadingly  up  at  Fritz. 

Fritz  had  given  his  little  horn  to  Seppi, 
and  now  he  shouted  to  him,  "Blow  your 
horn."  Seppi  could  not  play  Fritz's  merry 
little  tune,  but  he  blew  a  terrific  blast,  and 
Bello  knew  that  he  must  follow  the  sound 
of  the  horn,, even  though  it  meant  parting 
from  his  dear  Fritz. 

"Good  old  dog!"  said  Fritz,  patting  him; 
"go  find  them,"  and  Bello  licked  his  hand, 
then  tore  away  up  the  mountain  after  the 
goats. 

When  he  reached  them,  he  tried  to  round 
them  up  and  drive  them  back  to  Fritz,  and 
it  was  some  time  before  Seppi  could  make 
him  understand  that  the  goats  must  go  to 
the  pastures  as  usual.  Then,  though  he 
followed  them  faithfully,  he  did  not  run 
about  in  circles  and  bark  down  every  hol- 

45 


low  log  as  he  usually  did.  Instead,  he 
walked  along  solemnly  beside  Leneli  with 
his  nose  in  her  hand. 

"See,  Seppi,"  she  said,  "he  knows  he 
must  help  with  the  goats,  but  he  wants  to 
go  with  Fritz." 

"There  are  lots  of  people  in  the  world 
that  know  less  than  Bello,"  Seppi  answered 
wisely.  He  put  the  horn  to  his  lips,  puffed 
out  his  cheeks,  and  blew  with  all  his  might. 
It  made  a  fearful  noise,  which  was  echoed 
from  all  the  surrounding  cliffs  and  was  an 
swered  by  Fritz's  yodel  far  away  on  the 
mountain  path.  Bello  pricked  up  his  ears 
and  whined.  They  called  back  and  forth  in 
this  way,  the  sounds  growing  fainter  and 
fainter  in  the  distance,  until  they  could  no 
longer  hear  each  other  at  all,  and  the  Twins 
were  for  the  first  time  quite  alone  on  the 
mountain  with  Bello  and  the  goats. 

When  at  last  they  reached  the  pasture, 
they  threw  themselves  down  on  the  grass, 
and  Leneli  at  once  took  her  knitting  out  of 
her  pocket  and  went  to  work.  Bello  sighed 

46 


and  lay  down  beside  her,  with  his  eyes  on 
the  goats.  The  sun  was  warm  and  it  was 
very  still  on  the  mountain-side.  There  was 
no  sound  except  the  tearing  noise  made  by 
the  goats  as  they  cropped  the  grass  and  the 
tinkle  of  their  bells.  Then  Seppi  began  to 

47 


practice  on  his  horn.  He  blew  and  blew 
until  he  was  red  in  the  face,  trying  to  play 
Fritz's  tune,  but  only  a  hoarse  bellow  came 
from  its  throat. 

Leneli  stood  the  noise  for  some  time. 
Then  she  plucked  a  blade  of  grass,  stretched 
it  across  a  hollow  between  her  two  thumbs, 
and,  when  Seppi  was  not  looking,  blew  with 
all  her  might  right  by  his  ear!  It  made  a 
fearful  screech,  which  echoed  and  reechoed 
until  it  seemed  as  if  the  very  air  had  been 
broken  into  a  million  bits. 

Seppi  gave  a  screech  of  his  own  arid 
clapped  his  hands  over  his  ears.  "What 
did  you  do  that  for?"  he  said  crossly,  "just 
when  I  was  beginning  to  get  the  tune." 

"Well,"  said  Leneli,  "you  may  have  be 
gun,  but  you  were  still  a  long,  long  way 
from  getting  it!  My  noise  was  just  as 
good  as  yours  !  I  '11  stop  if  you  will." 

Seppi  grumpily  laid  aside  his  horn  and 
sat  hugging  his  knees  and  looking  at  the 
wonderful  view  spread  out  before  them. 
Across  the  valley  the  Rigi  lifted  its  crest 

48 


to  the  sky.  Little  toy  villages,  each  with 
its  white  spire,  lay  sleeping  silently  in  the 
sunshine.  On  the  shores  of  the  lake  far 
below  he  could  see  the  city  of  Lucerne.  It 
might  have  r)een  a  painted  city,  for  not  a 
sound  reached  them  from  its  busy  streets, 
and  there  was  no  movement  to  be  seen  ex- 

49 


cept  here  and  there  the  waving  of  a  tiny 
thread  of  smoke.  On  the  lake  the  white 
sails  looked,  at  that  distance,  like  tiny  white 
butterflies  hovering  over  the  blue  water. 

"  I  suppose  we  can  see  almost  the  whole 
world  from  here;  don't  you?"  said  Leneli. 

"Pooh!  no,"  Seppi  answered  loftily. 
"There's  lots  more  to  it  than  this,  though 
this  is  the  best  part  of  it,  of  course.  Why, 
there  are  oceans  bigger  than  Lake  Lucerne 
and  a  mile  deep,  and  there  's  Paris  and 
London  besides." 

"  Dear,  dear,"  said  Leneli.  "  Mother  says 
we  are  very  near  to  God  on  the  mountains, 
and  I  suppose  He  can  look  down  and  see 
everybody  and  know  just  what  they  are 
doing  all  the  time,  but  I  don't  see  how 
He  possibly  can  keep  track  of  all  of  us  at 
once." 

"He  can't,  silly,"  answered  her  brother, 
still  more  loftily.  "Don't  you  know  that 
the  earth  is  round,  so  He  can't  see  but  one 
side  at  a  time,  if  He  looks  ever  so  hard?  I 
suppose  that 's  why  He  made  the  night-time. 

50 


He  shuts  some  of  the  people  up  in  the  dark 
while  He  watches  the  rest  of  them  on  the 
other  side."  Seppi  had  never  thought  this 
out  before,  but  he  always  tried  to  have  some 
answer  to  give  to  Leneli  when  she  asked 
questions,  or  else  she  might  get  the  idea 
that  he  did  n't  know  any  more  than  she  did. 
Leneli  usually  believed  whatever  he  told 
her,  and,  this  question  being  settled,  she 
went  on  with  her  knitting. 

The  goats  grazed  peacefully  about  them; 
the  air  was  very  still  and  grew  quite  warm 
in  the  sunshine.  About  the  snow-white 
crest  of  the  Rigi  little  wisps  of  clouds  were 
gathering.  They  grew  longer  and  longer 
and  sank  lower  on  the  mountain-side. 

"It's  raining  in  Lucerne,"  said  Seppi. 

The  clouds  fell  still  lower  and  spread  over 
the  whole  valley,  until  the  children  from 
their  high  seat  looked  out  over  a  sea  of 
mist.  There  were  sounds  of  distant  thunder 
from  the  rolling  clouds  and  vivid  flashes  of 
lightning  far  below  them. 

"'It's  a  little  lonesome  up  here  with  all 
5* 


the  world  shut  away  out  of  sight,  and  no 
body  around  but  God;  isn't  it?"  said  Le- 
neli  timidly. 

"There  are  the  goats,  and  Bello,"  an 
swered  Seppi  comfortingly.  He  looked 
straight  up  into  the  sky.  Little  wisps  of 
clouds  were  gathering  around  the  crest  of 
old  Pilatus  now.  The  sun  was  suddenly 
hidden,  and  he  felt  a  drop  of  rain.  "It's 
going  to  rain  here  in  a  minute,  and  hard, 
too,"  he  said. 

"What  shall  we  do?"  cried  Leneli,  roll 
ing  up  her  knitting  and  springing  to  her 
feet. 

"Get  wet,  I  guess,"  answered  Seppi. 
"There  's  no  shelter." 

"There  must  be  something,"  said  Le 
neli.  "I '11  look,  while  you  and  Bello  get 
the  goats  together."  She  dashed  away  as 
she  spoke,  and  soon  from  a  point  farther 
down  the  mountain  they  heard  her  call. 

Goats,  Bello,  and  Seppi,  all  came  thun 
dering  down  the  path  together  and  found 
her  huddled  under  an  overhanging  rock, 

52 


sheltered  by  the  branches  of  a  spreading 
pine.  Bello  and  Seppi  dived  under  the  rock 
beside  her,  and  the  goats  gathered  close 
about  them  just  as  the  storm  broke  in  ear 
nest.  The  lightning  flashed,  the  thunder 
rolled,  and  the  rain  came  down  in  torrents, 
making  a  gray  curtain  of  water  about  the 
rock.  The  children  shrank  back  under  the 
shelter  as  far  as  they  could  go,  and  neither 
one  said  a  word,  except  once  when  a  stream 
of  water  suddenly  ran  down  the  back  of 
Leneli's  neck.  Then  she  jumped  and  said 
"  Ow,"  in  a  voice  that  Seppi  heard  even 
above  the  roar  of  the  thunder. 

For  a  long  time  they  sat  there  while  the 
storm  raged  about  them.  Then  the  thunder 
went  roaring  away  farther  and  farther  down 
the  valley,  the  rain  ceased,  and  the  sun 
came  out. 

"  The  storm  's  over,"  said  Seppi.  "  Let 's 
get  out  of  here." 

The  goats  had  already  scattered  and  were 
nibbling  tufts  of  wet  grass,  when  the  two 
children  crawled  out  from  under  the  rock. 

53 


Leneli's  dress  was  quite  muddy  where  the 
rain  had  come  through  the  crack  and  poured 
down  her  neck,  and  she  was  twisting  her 
self  round,  trying  to  see  the  extent  of  the 
damage,  when  suddenly  there  was  a  terri 
fic  roar  and  rumble  as  if  the  thunder  had 
begun  all  over  again,  though  the  sky  was 
blue  and  clear.  Crash  followed  crash,  and 
there  was  a  sound  of  great  rocks  falling  from 
dizzy  mountain-heights  far  above  them. 

The  children  clung  to  each  other  in  ter 
ror,  the  goats  trembled,  and  Bello  crept 
farther  under  the  rock.  "The  avalanche!'" 
gasped  Leneli,  shaking  with  fright.  "  Father 
thought  there  would  n't  be  any  more  this 
spring!  Oh,  I  wish  we  were  home!  " 

Far  down  the  mountain-side  there  were 
sounds  of  mighty  trees  being  torn  up  by 
the  roots  and  of  rocks  broken  from  the 
cliffs  and  bounding  from  ledge  to  ledge. 

It  seemed  as  if  the  whole  world  were 
being  torn  to  pieces.  At  last  the  terrible 
roar  ceased  and  a  terrible  silence  settled 
over  the  mountains.  The  children  knew 

54 


well  the  awful  dangers  of  the  avalanche. 
Ever  since  they  could  remember  they  had 
heard  stories  of  travelers  buried  alive  under 
masses  of  snow  and  ice,  and  of  whole  vil 
lages  swept  away,  or  so  covered  with  stones, 
trees,  and  earth  that  not  a  sign  of  them  was 
ever  seen  again. 

Their  first  thought  was  of  their  mother. 

"Oh,"  shuddered  Leneli,  "do  you  sup 
pose  our  house  was  in  the  path  of  it?" 

Seppi  thought  a  moment;  then  he  said 
soberly,  "  No,  that  could  n't  be,  for  there  is 
a  wide  hollow  between  our  farm  and  the 
mountain-slope  that  would  have  to  be  filled 
first.  I  'm  quite  sure  no  avalanche  could 
possibly  carry  the  house  away." 

"Father — Fritz,"  sobbed  Leneli. 

"They  are  far  round  on  the  other  side 
of  the  mountain  by  this  time,"  said  Seppi, 
"where  the  sun  has  not  yet  had  so  much 
chance  to  melt  the  snow  and  start  ava 
lanches.  They  could  not  have  been  harmed 
by  this  one,  for  it  fell  on  our  side  of  the 
mountain." 

55 


"Let  us  start  home  anyway,"  said  Le- 
neli,  "even  if  it  is  early.  I  can't  wait  until 
night  to  know  that  Mother  and  Baby  Roseli 
are  safe." 

"We  ought  to  keep  the  goats  up  here 
eating  all  day,"  objected  Seppi,  "or  they 
won't  give  any  milk  to-night." 

"They  may  not  give  much  anyway,"  an 
swered  Leneli,  "because  they've  been  so 
frightened,  but  we  will  let  them  go  slowly 
and  they  can  get  a  bite  here  and  there  as 
they  go." 

She  took  up  her  alpenstock,  a  long  stick 
which  she  always  carried  with  her,  hung 
the  little  bundle  of  lunch,  tied  up  in  a  cloth, 
from  the  end  of  it,  put  the  stick  over  her 
shoulder,  and,  calling  Bello,  began  at  once 
to  herd  the  goats  together. 

Seppi  followed  her  a  little  doubtfully,  and 
soon  they  were  all  on  their  way  down  the 
steep  mountain  path.  The  sun  was  now 
shining  again  as  brilliantly  as  ever;  the 
white  clouds  were  floating  lazily  across  the 
deep  blue  sky,  and  it  did  not  seem  as  if 

56 


anything  unusual  could  possibly  have  hap 
pened. 

Seppi's  conscience  troubled  him.  "  It  was 
only  a  thunder-storm  after  all,"  he  said  to 
Leneli,  "and  the  avalanche  is  past  and 
gone.  It  can't  do  any  more  harm.  I  'm 
afraid  Father  would  n't  like  us  to  give  up 
and  go  home  now.  He  might  think  we 
were  no  better  than  babies  to  be  so  scared 
when  we  know  we  are  n't  hurt." 

Leneli  did  not  answer,  but  she  kept  right 
on  going,  and  for  a  time  they  trudged  along 
in  silence.  They  had  reached  the  Giant 
Pine  where  the  trails  divided,  and  had 
rounded  a  bend  in  the  path,  when  Bello, 
who  was  a  little  way  ahead  with  the  goats, 
suddenly  set  up  a  furious  barking. 

"It's  that  Nanni,  I  do  not  doubt,"  said 
Seppi.  "She's  probably  trying  to  break 
her  neck  somewhere."  He  dashed  ahead 
and  disappeared  around  a  high  rock,  Le 
neli  following  him  at  a  slower  pace. 

In  a  moment  Seppi  came  running  back 
to  her,  his  face  pale  with  surprise  and  alarm. 

57 


"  It  is  n't  Nanni,"  he  gasped,  "  it 's  the  ava 
lanche  !  It 's  all  across  the  pass !  We  can't 
get  by." 

He  seized  his  sister's  hand  and  dragged 
her  to  the  top  of  the  rock  which  overlooked 
the  pass,  and  there  they  gazed  in  dismay 
at  the  scene  before  them.  Where  that  morn 
ing  the  procession  from  the  village  had  so 
gayly  followed  the  winding  trail  up  the 
mountain-side,  there  was  now  a  great  mass 
of  rocks,  ice,  and  snow  completely  block 
ing  the  path.  Worse  than  that,  the  ava 
lanche  had  made  a  dam  across  the  bed 
of  the  mountain  stream  where  the  cattle 
stopped  to  drink,  turning  it  into  a  little  lake 
which  was  growing  wider  and  deeper  every 
moment.  The  goats  were  huddled  to 
gether  on  the  brink,  bleating  anxiously, 
while  Bello,  completely  bewildered,  ran 
back  and  forth,  barking  wildly. 

The  children  knew  well  how  serious  their 
situation  was ;  they  were  alone  on  the  moun 
tain,  the  only  pass  to  the  village  closed,  and 
without  food  except  the  lunch  they  had 

58 


brought  from  home  that  morning.  For  a 
few  moments  they  watched  the  water  ris 
ing  steadily  in  the  little  lake,  too  terrified 
to  speak;  then  Leneli  said,  "Let's  go  back 
to  the  Giant  Pine  and  think." 

Seppi  blew  his  little  horn,  but,  instead  of 
rounding  up  the  goats,  Bello  only  looked 
at  him  and  whined.  It  had  been  a  day  of 
tremendous  surprises  to  Bello.  First  Fritz 

59 


had  left  him ;  then  came  the  thunder-storm ; 
then  starting  home  in  the  middle  of  the  day 
instead  of  at  the  proper  time;  and  now  the 
path  itself  was  gone !  No  wonder  he  was 
bewildered.  Seppi  dashed  down  to  the 
water's  edge  and  drove  the  goats  up  the 
trail  again  himself,  and  while  they  snatched 
stray  mouthfuls  here  and  there  about  the 
pine  tree,  he  and  Leneli  sat  down  under  it 
to  think. 

"We  can't  get  home  that  way;  that's 
certain,"  said  Seppi,  pointing  to  the  buried 
pass. 

"And  we  can't  stay  here  either,"  moaned 
Leneli;  "not  if  there  is  away  out  in  any 
direction." 

"There  's  the  path  Father  and  Fritz  took 
this  morning,"  said  Seppi.  "We  might  try 
that.  It  must  go  somewhere." 

"Perhaps  that  is  blocked  too,"  said  Le 
neli. 

"  I  '11  go  a  little  way  and  see,"  said  Seppi. 
"You  stay  here  and  watch  the  goats." 

"Give  me  your  horn,  then,"  said  Leneli, 
60 


"and  I  '11  blow  it  every  little  while  so  you 
can  find  your  way  back.  You  know  Father 
always  tells  us  not  to  leave  the  path  because 
it 's  so  easy  to  get  lost." 

"That 's  a  good  idea,"  said  Seppi.  "  See 
if  you  can  blow  it." 

Leneli  put  it  to  her  lips  and  blew  until 
her  face  was  purple,  but  achieved  only  a 
dismal  squawk. 

"  I  '11  keep  the  horn  myself,"  said  Seppi, 
taking  it  from  her,  "and  every  little  while 
I  '11  blow  it.  You  can  answer  by  blowing 
on  a  grass  stem  the  way  you  did  up  yon 
der.  Girls  can't  manage  a  horn  anyway." 

Leneli  was  too  miserable  to  reply,  and 
in  another  minute  Seppi  had  disappeared 
up  the  strange  path.  For  what  seemed  to 
her  a  very  long  time,  Leneli  answered  the 
horn,  as  it  grew  fainter  and  fainter  in  the 
distance.  Finally  she  could  not  hear  it  at 
all. 

"  Oh,  what  shall  I  do  if  Seppi 's  gone 
too?"  she  moaned  when  her  desperate  sig 
nals  brought  no  answer. 

61 


Then  her  Mother's  words  came  back  to 
her,  and,  plumping  herself  down  on  her 
knees  among  the  goats,  she  sent  up  a  fer 
vent  prayer. 

"Oh,  dear  God,"  she  cried,  clasping  her 
hands,  "  Mother  said  we  should  be  very 
close  to  you  on  the  mountain  and  I  sup 
pose  you  can  see  me  and  Seppi  both  at  the 
same  time,  from  where  you  are.  Please, 
please  send  him  back  for  I  'm  scared.  Dear 
God,  do  please  hurry  and  help  us  find  the 
way  down  the  mountain  before  it  gets  dark 

62 


and  you  have  to  go  away  to  watch  the 
other  side  of  the  world.  Amen." 

She  rose  from  her  knees  and  listened. 
Far  away  there  came  the  sound  of  Seppi' s 
horn.  "Oh,  thank  you,  God!  There  he 
comes  !  "  she  cried  joyfully,  and,  snatching 
a  grass-blade,  she  put  it  between  her 
thumbs  and  gave  an  answering  blast. 

Soon  Seppi  himself  came  bounding  into 
sight.  "Come  along,"  he  shouted,  waving 
his  hand  frantically  toward  the  path,  and 
Leneli  at  once  called  Bello,  and  together 
they  started  the  goats. 

"The  avalanche  must  have  begun  on  the 
other  side  of  our  pass,"  said  Seppi  when 
Leneli  caught  up  with  him.  "There's  no 
sign  of  it  on  this  side." 

"Maybe  if  we  follow  far  enough  we'll 
find  Father  and  Fritz,"  said  Leneli,  bright 
ening. 

"  I  thought  of  that,  too,"  answered  Seppi, 
"but  if  there  is  any  way  to  get  down  the 
mountain,  I  think  we  ought  to  do  it  on 
Mother's  account.  Father  and  Fritz  won't 

63 


know  about  it,  so  they  won't  be  anxious, 
but  if  we  don't  get  home  Mother  will  think 
we  are  killed." 

"Oh,  I  wish  we  could  fly,"  said  Leneli. 

"Then  we  must  wish  for  wings  on  the 
goats  too,"  said  Seppi,  "for  you  know 
Father  said  we  must  take  care  of  them 
whatever  happens." 

Sad  and  frightened  though  she  was,  Le 
neli  giggled  a  little  at  that  "Would  n't  they 
look  funny  flying  through  the  air  with  you 
and  me  and  Bello  all  flopping  after  them?" 
she  said.  "Anyway,  they  might  go  a  little 
faster  than  they  do  now,"  she  added  impa 
tiently,  giving  Nanni  a  poke  with  her  stick. 

"They  are  hungry,"  said  Seppi.  "They 
hardly  had  time  to  eat  anything  before  the 
storm  came  up." 

Then  a  bright  idea  came  into  his  head. 
"I  'm  hungry,  too,"  he  said,  "and  so  are 
you.  Let 's  eat  our  lunch  while  the  goats 
get  a  few  mouthfuls  among  the  rocks,  and 
then  we  shall  all  have  more  strength  and 
shall  get  along  faster." 


IV 
THE  LONELY  HERDSMAN 

THE  sun  was  already  dipping  toward  the 
west  when  they  finished  the  last  crumb  of 
their  bread  and  cheese,  washed  it  down 
with  a  drink  from  the  mountain  stream,  and 
started  once  more  on  their  journey.  They 
followed  the  path  without  much  difficulty, 
for  it  had  been  trampled  by  the  feet  of  many 
cattle  that  morning,  and  at  the  end  of  an 
hour  had  covered  several  miles  without 
meeting  a  person  or  finding  any  sign  of 
human  habitation  The  way  grew  wilder 
and  wilder  and  wound  slowly  upward. 

"  It 's  going  to  be  dark  pretty  soon,"  said 
Leneli  at  last,  trying  hard  to  conceal  the 
tremble  in  her  voice,  "and  we  are  going  up 
instead  of  down.  Seppi,  do  you  suppose 
there  are  any  bears  and  wolves  about 
here?" 

67 


"  Maybe,"  said  Seppi,  and  there  was  a 
little  catch  in  his  throat,  too.  "But  then," 
he  added,  trying  hard  to  look  on  the  bright 
side  of  things,  "if  there  are,  they  'd  be  much 
more  likely  to  eat  the  goats.  I  don't  believe 
they  care  much  about  eating  people." 

"Well,  anyway,  if  they  do,"  quavered 
Leneli,  "  I  hope  they  '11  begin  with  Nanni." 

The  afternoon  waned ;  the  shadows  grew 
longer  and  longer,  and  they  were  just  mak 
ing  up  their  minds  that  they  must  soon  lie 
down  among  the  goats  beside  the  trail  and 
wait  for  morning,  when  a  turn  in  the  path 
brought  them  out  on  a  spur  of  the  moun 
tain  where  they  could  look  for  miles  across 
a  deep  valley  towards  the  west.  On  the 
farther  side,  range  after  range  of  snow 
capped  peaks  gave  back  the  golden  glory 
of  the  sunset,  and  from  somewhere  came 
the  sound  of  an  Alpine  horn  playing  the 
first  few  notes  of  the  hymn  "Praise  Ye  the 
Lord." 

"The  Angelus!"  cried  Leneli  clasping 
her  hands.  "They  can't  hear  the  church- 

68 


bells  up  here,  so  they  blow  the  horns  in 
stead." 

Far  away  across  the  valley  another  horn 
answered,  then  another  and  another,  and 
the  echoes  took  up  the  refrain  until  it  seemed 
as  if  the  hills  themselves  were  singing. 

Following  eagerly  the  direction  of  the 
sound  the  children  were  overjoyed  to  see 


in  the  distance  a  lonely  herdsman  standing 
on  a  great  rock  overlooking  the  valley,  his 
long  Alpine  horn  in  his  hand,  and  his  head 
bowed  in  prayer.  Leneli  and  Seppi  bowed 
their  heads  too,  and  it  comforted  them  to 
think  that  their  mother  in  the  old  farm-house, 
and  Father  and  Fritz  on  the  far-away  alp, 
were  all  at  that  same  moment  praying  too. 
It  seemed  to  bring  them  near  together  in 
spite  of  the  distance  which  separated  them. 
Their  prayers  said,  the  children  hastened 
forward,  driving  the  goats  before  them,  and 
now  the  sound  of  cow-bells  mingled  with 
the  tinkle  of  the  bells  on  the  goats.  An 
other  turn  in  the  path  revealed  a  green 
pasture  where  a  herd  of  cows  was  grazing, 
and,  just  beyond,  a  rough  shelter  made  of 
logs  with  the  herdsman,  still  holding  his 
horn,  standing  beside  it.  He  was  gazing  in 
astonishment  at  the  sight  of  two  little  chil 
dren  alone  on  the  mountains  at  so  late  an 
hour.  He  was  an  old  man,  with  a  shaggy 
white  beard,  and  strange  kind  eyes  that 
seemed  always  looking  for  something  that 

70 


he  could  not  find.  Beside  him,  his  ears 
pointed  forward  and  his  tail  pointing  back, 
was  his  dog.  The  dog  was  growling. 

For  an  instant  the  children  stood  still, 
not  quite  daring  to  go  nearer,  but  Bello, 
dear  friendly  old  Bello,  had  no  such  fears. 


He  ran  forward  barking  joyfully;  the  two 
dogs  smelled  each  other,  and  then  trotted 
back  down  the  path  together  as  if  they  had 
been  friends  since  they  were  puppies. 

The  man  followed  at  a  slower  pace. 
"What  in  the  world  are  you  doing  up  here 
on  the  mountains  with  your  goats  at  this 
time  o'  day?"  he  said  to  the  children. 

The  Twins  told  him  their  story,  and  he 
stood  for  a  moment  scratching  his  head,  as 
if  he  were  much  puzzled  to  know  what  to 
do  with  them. 

"Well,"  he  said  at  length,  "you  can't 
get  down  the  mountain  to-night,  that 's  cer 
tain;  and  you  must  be  hungry  enough  to 
eat  an  ox  roasted  whole,  that 's  certain  too. 
And  your  goats  are  hungry  into  the  bar 
gain.  Goats  are  n't  allowed  in  this  pasture, 
but  they  must  n't  starve  either.  Nothing  is 
as  it  should  be." 

He  scratched  his  head  again,  and  Leneli, 
fearing  he  was  going  to  turn  them  away, 
could  not  keep  a  large  tear  from  rolling 
down  her  nose  and  splashing  off  her  chin. 

72 


"  There,  there,"  said  the  old  herdsman, 
comfortingly,  "  don't  you  cry,  sissy.  Things 
are  n't  so  bad  but  that  they  might  be  worse. 
You  can  sleep  in  the  hay  up  yonder,"  he 
jerked  his  thumb  toward  the  hut,  "and  I  '11 
give  you  a  bite  to  eat,  and  the  goats  will 
help  themselves,  I  Ve  no  manner  of  doubt." 

"  We  can  drink  goat's  milk,"  said  Leneli 
timidly,  "and  you  may  have  all  we  don't 
take." 

"We'll  have  to  milk  them  first,"  said 
Seppi,  "and  we've  never  done  it  before. 
Mother  always  does  the  milking." 

"I  know  how,"  said  Leneli  proudly. 
"Don't  you  remember,  Fritz  taught  me  the 
day  Nanni  swallowed  my  lunch?" 

"I'll  lend  you  a  milk-pail,"  said  the 
herdsman.  "The  cows  were  all  milked 
some  time  ago." 

He  went  back  to  the  hut  and  soon  re 
appeared  with  two  pails,  and  as  Leneli 
struggled  with  one  goat  he  milked  another, 
while  Seppi  fed  both  creatures  with  tufts  of 
grass  to  keep  them  quiet.  It  was  the  first 

73 


good  grass  the  goats  had  seen  since  morn 
ing,  and  apparently  they  were  determined 
to  eat  the  pasture  clean. 

The  herdsman  looked  at  them  anxiously 
and  scratched  his  head  again.  "They  cer 
tainly  have  healthy  appetites,"  he  said  woe 
fully;  "they  don't  calculate  to  leave  any 
thing  behind  'em  but  stones  and  gravel!" 

The  milking  took  some  time  and  after  it 
was  done,  the  old  man  placed  the  sad  and 
tired  children  on  the  bench  beside  his  door, 
and  while  they  ate  the  food  he  gave  them 
and  watched  the  moon  rise  over  the  moun 
tains,  he  told  them  about  his  home  in  the 
village  fifteen  miles  away  at  the  foot  of  the 
pass,  and  about  his  wife  and  two  grand 
children  who  lived  there  with  him. 

"The  only  thing  you  can  do,"  he  said, 
"is  to  go  down  the  pass  on  this  side  of 
the  mountain.  You  can  spend  the  night  at 
my  house  or  at  some  farm-house  on  the 
way  and  it  is  only  about  ten  miles  back 
to  your  own  village  from  the  foot  of  the 
pass." 

74 


"But  how  can  we  find  the  way?"  qua 
vered  poor  Leneli. 

The  old  man  scratched  his  head,  as  he 
always  did  when  he  was  puzzled,  and  finally 
said,  "Well,  I  'm  blest  if  I  can  tell  you.  It 's 
a  hard  pass.  I  'd  go  with  you,  but  I  'm  alone 
here  and  I  can't  leave  the  cows  even  for 

75 


half  a  day.  I  '11  start  you  right,  the  dog  and 
the  goats  have  some  sense  of  their  own, 
and  the  good  God  will  guide  you.  Besides, 
Swiss  boys  and  girls  are  never  afraid." 

"I 'ma  little  afraid,  I  think,"  confessed 
Leneli.  She  looked  at  the  moon  and  thought 
how  it  must  be  shining  down  on  the  old 
farm-house  ;  and  of  her  mother,  who  at  that 
very  moment  must  be  frantic  with  fears  for 
their  safety ;  and  of  the  long  and  perilous 
journey  before  they  could  see  her  again, 
and  though  she  tried  hard  to  swallow  them, 
three  little  sobs  slipped  out. 

The  old  man  heard  them.  "Why,  bless 
me,  bless  me,"  he  said,  rumpling  his  hair 
until  it  stood  on  end,  "  this  will  never  do  at 
all!  Why,  bless  us,  think  of  William  Tell! 
Think  of  Peter,  who  lived  long  ago  in  your 
own  Lucerne,  and  who  saved  the  whole 
city !  To  take  a  little  herd  of  goats  down  a 
strange  pass  is  child's  play  compared  with 
what  he  did;  and  he  was  only  a  boy  like 
Seppi  here,  and  I  always  thought  girls 
were  braver  than  boys." 

76 


Leneli  sat  up  and  sniffed  resolutely.  "I 
think  — I'm  almost  sure  —  I'm  going  to 
be  brave  now,"  she  said.  "Tell  us  about 
Peter." 

."Well,  it  was  like  this,"  said  the  herds 
man.  "  Peter  was  a  smart,  likely  lad  enough, 
but  nobody  thought  he  was  a  hero.  In  fact, 
he  never  suspected  it  himself.  You  see,  you 
can't  tell  whether  you  are  one  or  not  until 
something  happens  that  calls  for  courage. 
Then  if  you  do  the  right  thing,  whether  you 
are  afraid  or  not,  you  '11  know  you  are  one. 
Well,  one  summer  night  this  Peter  went 
out  to  have  a  swim  in  the  lake,  and  when 
he  crawled  up  on  the  bank  to  dress  again, 
he  was  so* tired  he  fell  asleep.  By  and  by  he 
was  wakened  by  voices  and,  opening  his 
eyes,  he  saw  five  or  six  men  creeping  stealth 
ily  along  the  lake-shore. 

" '  Aha,'  says  Peter  to  himself,  '  that 's  not 
the  walk  of  honest  men.' 

"He  got  up  on  his  elbow  in  the  long 
grass  and  watched  them  without  being  seen. 
He  saw  many  more  men  steal  silently  after 

77 


the  first  group,  and  among  them  he  recog 
nized  the  Bailiff  of  Rothenburg,  whom  he 
knew  to  be  an  Austrian  and  the  sworn 
enemy  of  Lucerne.  He  saw  the  men  talk 
together  and  heard  enough  of  what  they 
said  to  be  sure  that  danger  threatened  his 
beloved  town.  So  when  they  moved  on,  he 
followed  them,  slipping  along  behind  rocks 
and  bushes,  until  suddenly  they  disappeared 
as  if  the  earth  had  swallowed  them.  Peter 
groped  about  hunting  for  them  until  at  last 
he  saw  a  faint  light  shining  from  out  a  dark 
cavern  among  the  rocks.  Then,  though  he 
knew  how  dangerous  it  was,  he  followed 
the  light  and  found  himself  in  a  long,  dark 
tunnel." 

"  Oh,"  shuddered  Leneli.  "  I  could  never 
be  as  brave  as  that  I  don't  like  dark  places." 

"  Peter  knew  that  a  tunnel  ran  under 
neath  the  walls  of  the  town  and  that  the 
other  end  of  it  opened  by  a  trap-door  into  a 
stable  in  Lucerne,"  went  on  the  old  man 
without  noticing  Leneli's  interruption,  "and 
at  once  he  saw  that  some  traitor  must  have 

73 


told  the  Austrians  of  this  secret  passage. 
He  crept  closer  and  closer  to  the  group  of 
men,  until  he  was  near  enough  to  hear  what 
they  said.  You  may  be  sure  his  blood  ran 
cold  in  his  veins  when  he  heard  the  voice 
of  a  man  he  knew,  telling  the  Austrians  just 
how  best  they  could  capture  the  town  !  He 
knew  that  terrible  things  would  happen  in 
Lucerne  that  night  if  the  enemy  ever  reached 
the  other  end  of  the  tunnel,  and  at  once 
made  up  his  mind  that  he  must  alarm  the 
town.  He  dropped  on  his  hands  and  knees 
and  was  beginning  to  crawl  back  toward 
the  entrance,  when  he  heard  some  one  com 
ing  into  the  tunnel  1  He  sprang  to  his  feet 
.  and  tried  to  run  past,  but  the  passage 
was  narrow,  and  he  was  caught  at  once 
and  dragged  into  the  light." 

"  Oh !  Oh !  "gasped  the  Twins,  breathless 
with  excitement.  "  It  sounds  just  like  a  bad 
dream." 

"  It  was  no  dream,"  said  the  old  herds 
man,  "for  when  the  traitor,  whose  name  was 
Jean  de  Malters,  saw  Peter,  he  was  terri- 

79 


bly  angry.   '  How  did  you  come  here,'  he 
roared,  in  a  voice  that  made  the  earth  shake. 

"  '  I  was  asleep  on  the  bank  and  you 
woke  me  up,  so  I  followed  to  see  what  was 
going  on,'  said  Peter. 

'"I  don't  believe  you.  Some  one  sent 
you  to  spy  upon  us,'  said  Jean  de  Makers, 
and  he  shook  Peter.  'Who  sent  you?' 

'"No  one,'  said  Peter.  '  I  have  told  you 
the  truth.' 

"'You  lie,'  said  his  captor.  'I'll  give 
you  just  two  minutes  to  tell  who  sent  you, 
and  if  you  do  not  tell  us  then,  you  shall 
die!' 

"Poor  Peter  thought  of  his  home  and  his 
mother  and  father,  and  there  never  was  a 
more  homesick  boy  in  the  world  than  he 
was  at  that  moment,  but  though  he  was 
terribly  frightened,  he  did  not  say  a  single 
word. 

"  'He  shall  die,  then,'  said  Jean  de  Mal- 
ters,  when  the  two  minutes  were  up,  and 
Peter  had  not  spoken. 

"One  of  the  Austrians  interfered.   'No,' 
80 


he  said.  '  It  would  be  bad  luck  to  begin  the 
night's  work  by  shedding  the  blood  of  a 
child.  Make  him  swear  he  will  not  tell  what 
he  has  seen  to  any  living  soul,  and  let  him 

go.' 

"  In  spite  of  Jean  de  Malters,  who  was 
bound  that  he  should  be  killed,  that  was 
what  they  did,  and  the  moment  he  was  free 
you  may  be  sure  Peter  ran  like  the  wind 
for  home. 

"Now  you  see,"  said  the  old  herdsman, 
and  he  shook  his  finger  at  Seppi  and  Le- 
neli,  "this  was  a  dreadful  position  for  Peter. 
He  had  solemnly  promised  not  to  tell  a  liv 
ing  soul  what  he  had  seen  and  heard,  but  if 
he  did  n't  tell,  his  parents  and  friends  would 
be  murdered  before  morning. 

"That  evening  his  father  and  a  number 
of  other  men  were  gathered  together  in  the 
town  hall  of  Lucerne  to  talk  over  commu 
nity  affairs,  when  Peter  suddenly  burst  into 
the  room,  his  eyes  as  big  as  saucers. 

"The  men  gathered  about  him,  thinking 
he  must  have  some  tremendous  piece  of 

81 


news,  but  Peter  spoke  never  a  word  to  them. 
Instead,  he  marched  up  to  the  great  porce 
lain  stove  that  stood  in  the  room. 

" '  O  Stove,'  said  Peter,  '  I  have  just  heard 
terrible  things  which  I  have  promised  not  to 
tell  to  a  living  soul,  but  you,  O  Stove,  have 
no  soul,  so  to  you  I  will  say  that  the  Aus- 
trians  are  now  in  the  tunnel  underneath  the 
walls  and  that  at  midnight  they  will  break 
in  and  sack  the  town.' 

"At  first  the  men  thought  Peter  had  gone 
crazy,  but  when  he  had  finished  telling  the 
stove  all  he  had  seen  and  heard,  they  flew 
to  alarm  the  town  and  get  their  weapons. 

"At  midnight,  when  the  Austrians  came 
up  through  the  hole  in  the  stable  floor,  they 
were  received  by  a  little  army  of  men  of 
Lucerne,  and  in  the  battle  that  followed 
they  were  completely  whipped  and  driven 
from  the  town  forever.  And  it  was  Peter 
who  saved  the  city. 

"  You  see  that  was  Peter's  chance  to  show 
what  he  was  made  of,  and  he  did  n't  miss 
his  chance.  He  did  the  right  thing,  even 

82 


though  he  was  afraid.  It 's  a  great  thing 
not  to  miss  one's  chance."  * 

The  old  herdsman  looked  up  at  the  moon 
as  if  he  had  n't  meant  any  one  in  particular 
when  he  said  that  about  missing  one's 
chance,  and  the  children  didn't  say  a  word 
for  a  minute. 

Then  Seppi  said,  "If  Peter  could  save  a 
whole  town,  I  guess  we  can  get  down  that 
pass  with  a  few  goats." 

"Why,  of  course,"  said  the  herdsman. 
"It 's  your  chance,  you  see,  and  when  you 
get  home  very  likely  you  '11  find  you  are 
both  heroes.  You  see  if  there  were  never 
any  danger,  there  never  could  be  any  heroes 
at  all !  Now  climb  up  into  the  hay,  both  of 
you,  and  I  '11  wake  you  for  an  early  start 
in  the  morning." 


. 


V 
THE  PASS 


V 
THE  PASS 

ALL  night  long  the  children  slept  soundly 
in  the  hayloft,  with  the  moon  peering  in 
at  them  through  the  chinks  between  the 
logs.  In  the  morning  they  were  awakened 
by  the  music  of  cow-bells,  and  by  the  voice 
of  the  old  herdsman,  who  stuck  his  head  up 
through  the  hole  in  the  floor  and  called  out: 
"Wake  up,  my  young  heroes!  The  sun  is 
already  looking  over  the  crest  of  Rigi,  and 
it's  time  you  were  on  your  way." 

Seppi  and  Leneli  sat  up  and  rubbed  their 
eyes,  and  for  a  moment  could  not  think 
where  they  were  or  how  they  came  to  be 
there.  Then  they  remembered,  and,  spring 
ing  from  their  rude  beds,  ran  out  into  the 
glorious  morning  and  washed  their  faces 
and  hands  in  the  mountain  stream  that 

87 


flowed  near  the  hut.  Then  there  were  the 
goats  to  be  milked,  and  breakfast  to  be  eaten, 
and  the  shadows  were  already  shortening 
when  at  last  they  were  ready  for  their  lonely 
and  dangerous  journey. 

The  old  herdsman  packed  some  bread 
and  cheese  in  their  lunch-cloth,  Leneli  slung 
the  bundle  on  her  alpenstock,  and  Seppi 
called  Bello  to  herd  the  goats.  But  the  goats 
were  well  pleased  with  the  rich  green  grass 
of  the  alp,  and  were  unwilling  to  leave  the 
pasture.  They  frisked  and  gamboled  and 
stood  on  their  hind  legs  butting  each  other 
playfully,  and  it  was  some  time  before 
Seppi  and  Bello  could  get  them  fairly 
started. 

The  old  herdsman  had  done  his  milking 
very  early  in  order  to  go  a  little  way  with 
the  children,  and  now,  leaving  the  cows  in 
charge  of  his  faithful  dog,  he  led  the  way 
down  the  steep  mountain  path. 

The  morning  air  was  so  clear  and  spark 
ling  and  the  sun  shone  so  bright  upon  the 
snow-capped  peaks,  that  the  children  almost 

88 


forgot  the  dangers  of  the  unknown  path. 
It  seemed  impossible  that  anything  could 
happen  to  them  in  such  a  wonderful  and 
beautiful  world,  and  they  said  good-bye 
quite  cheerfully  to  the  good  old  herdsman 
when  at  last  he  stopped  and  told  them  he 
must  go  back  to  his  cheese-making.  From 
the  place  where  they  stood,  they  could  see 
the  path  like  a  tiny  thread,  winding  through 
forests,  down  a  long,  narrow  valley  shut  in 
by  high  cliffs,  past  waterfalls  fed  by  moun 
tain  snows,  and  losing  itself  at  last  where 
a  tiny  white  steeple  marked  the  little  vil 
lage  which  was  the  home  of  the  old  herds 
man.  The  old  man  pointed  to  it.  "  Follow 
the  path  and  remember  Peter  of  Lucerne," 
he  said.  "This  is  your  chance!  Trust  the 
good  God,  do  not  be  afraid,  and  soon  your 
troubles  will  be  over  and  you  will  be  once 
more  in  your  mother's  arms."  He  stood 
on  a  rock  and  watched  the  little  procession 
until  a  bend  in  the  path  hid  it  from  sight, 
then  he  went  back  to  his  lonely  pasture. 
For  an  hour  or  so,  the  children  trudged 
89 


quite  cheerfully  on  their  way.  "  This  is  n't 
hard  at  all,"  said  Seppi.  "The  pass  is  eas 
ier  to  follow  than  our  own.  How  silly  we 
were  to  be  scared !  " 

They  were  so  used  to  climbing  about  in 
perilous  places  that  when  a  little  later  the 
path  led  them  along  a  shelf-like  projection 
on  the  side  of  steep  cliffs,  overhanging  a 
mountain  stream,  they  were  not  frightened. 
But  when  they  began  to  grow  tired,  and  the 
trail  led  them  into  a  dark  forest,  where  the  sun 
came  through  the  thick  boughs  and  shone 
only  in  patches  of  light  upon  the  slippery 
spruce  needles,  they  grew  less  courageous. 

"I  don't  like  the  forest,"  said  Leneli, 
shivering  a  little  and  looking  behind  her. 
"It  always  seems  as  if  things  would  hap 
pen  to  you  in  the  woods." 

"What  kind  of  things?"  said  S^ptpi,  who 
was  beginning  to  feel  a  bit  shaky  himself. 

"Why— you  know,"  answered  Leneli, 
"the  kind  of  things  that  giants  and  dragons 
and  dwarfs  do !  And  then  there  's  that  story 
about  Pontius  Pilate.  You  know  our  old 

90 


Mount  Pilatus  was  named  that  because 
they  say  his  body  was  thrown  into  one  of  its 
lakes,  and  his  spirit  haunts  the  mountain. 
He  only  comes  out  once  a  year,  but  oh, 
Seppi,  suppose  this  should  be  the  time!" 

91 


"Huh!"  said  Seppi  scornfully.  ''Girls' 
talk !  Of  course  I  don't  believe  such  things; 
besides,  he  only  comes  out  on  Good  Fri 
day,  anyway!  " 

"Well,"  said  Leneli,  "lots  of  people  do 
believe  them,  even  grown-up  people." 

"Pooh,"  said  Seppi,  and  just  to  show 
that  he  did  n't  care  at  all  about  such  idle 
tales  he  began  to  whistle;  but  Leneli  no 
ticed  that  he  too  looked  behind  him  now 
and  then. 

It  grew  more  and  more  difficult  to  find 
the  way,  for  there  were  openings  between 
the  trees  that  looked  like  paths  and  the  true 
path  wound  in  and  out,  and  came  near  los 
ing  itself  entirely  among  the  rocks.  The 
brown  needles  covered  the  ground  in  every 
direction,  so  the  pass  was  no  different  in 
color  from  the  rest  of  the  forest  floor.  When 
they  looked  behind  them  or  peered  fearfully 
under  the  spruce  boughs  for  dwarfs  or  giants, 
of  course  they  were  not  watching  the  trail 
carefully,  and  so,  when  suddenly  there  was 
a  loud  whirring  noise  above  the  trees  and 

92 


a  great  bird  flew  almost  over  their  heads, 
they  were  so  startled  they  just  ran  without 
noticing  which  way  they  were  going.  Bello 
was  startled  too,  and  began  to  bark.  This 
started  the  goats,  and  before  you  could  say 
"Jack  Robinson"  children,  dog,  goats,  and 
all  were  galloping  pell-mell  through  the 
woods. 

After  the  loud  whirring  noise  the  forest 
was  still  again,  and  the  children  stopped 
their  mad  race,  but  they  could  not  stop  the 
goats.  On  and  on  theyxran  with  Bello  after 
them,  and  there  was  nothing  for  the  chil 
dren  to  do  but  follow,  for  had  not  their 
father  told  them  that  the  welfare  of  the  whole 
family  depended  upon  .the  goats,  and  if  any 
should  be  lost,  they  alone  would  be  to 
blame  ?  Stumbling  over  roots,  dodging  trees 
and  rocks,  they  plunged  wildly  along  until 
finally  they  saw  a  light  spot  ahead  and  a 
moment  later  came  out  suddenly  upon  the 
edge  of  a  precipice,  from  which  they  could 
look  straight  down  into  a  deep  valley  below. 
The  goats  were  there  before  them  huddled 

93 


together  on  the  brow  of  the  cliff,  bleating 
piteously.  Bello  sat  on  his  haunches  with 
his  tongue  hanging  out  and  looked  at  the 
scenery !  Seppi  and  Leneli  looked  at  each 
other  in  dismay. 

"  Now  you  've  done  it!  "  said  Seppi  mis 
erably.  "We  Ve  lost  the  path,  and  it's  all 
your  fault!  If  we  had  been  thinking  about 
Peter  of  Lucerne  instead  of  about  those 
silly  old  giants  and  dwarfs,  this  would  not 
have  happened." 

"  You  were  just  as  scared  as  I  was,"  said 
Leneli,  "and  you  need  n't  try  to  lay  it  all 
on  me !  You  jumped  and  ran  just  as  soon 
as  I  did,  when  that  bird  flew  over  our 
heads." 

Seppi  knew  that  this  was  true,  so  he  said 
nobly:  "Very  well,  let 's  not  quarrel  about 
it.  What  we  need  to  do  is  to  get  the  goats 
back  to  the  path." 

He  took  some  salt  from  his  pocket,  as 
his  big  brother  had  taught  him  to  do,  and 
walked  slowly  toward  them,  holding  out  his 
hand.  Nanni  stretched  her  neck  forward 

94 


and  had  taken  just  one  lick  of  the  salt  when 
suddenly  the  loud  whirring  noise  came 
again,  there  was  a  terrific  scream  over 
head,  and  from  the  crags  above  them  a 
great  golden  eagle  swooped  down  towards 

95 


the  frightened  group  on  the  cliff,  and,  stick 
ing  his  terrible  talons  into  Nanni's  back, 
tried  to  lift  her  bodily  into  the  air !  For  an 
instant  she  swung  dizzily  over  the  edge  of 
the  cliff  as  the  eagle  beat  his  wings  furi 
ously  in  an  effort  to  rise  with  his  heavy 
burden.  But  in  that  instant  Seppi  leaped 
forward  and,  seizing  the  goat  by  the  tail, 
pulled  back  with  all  his  might.  Leneli 
sprang  to  the  rescue  of  Seppi,  grasping 
him  firmly  around  the  waist,  and  screaming 
like  a  wildcat  as  she  added  her  strength  to 
his. 

Meanwhile  Bello  barked  furiously,  and 
the  rest  of  the  goats  fled  bleating  into  the 
woods  in  a  mad  stampede.  It  was  all  over 
in  less  time  that  it  takes  to  tell  it.  The  goat, 
wounded  and  bleeding,  dropped  to  the 
ground,  the  great  bird  soared  away  into 
the  dizzy  spaces  beyond  the  cliff,  and  the 
children  dashed  into  the  shelter  of  the  woods, 
dragging  Nanni  after  them.  They  could  not 
sink  down  on  the  ground  and  recover  from 
their  fright  as  they  longed  to  do,  for  by  this 

96 


time  the  goats  had  scattered  among  the 
trees  and  must  be  brought  together  again 
at  once.  Bello  was  distractedly  trying  to 
round  them  up,  but  as  he  had  no  idea  of 

97 


the  direction  in  which  to  drive  them,  they 
were  all  galloping  wildly  about,  first  this 
way,  then  that. 

It  was  some  time  before  the  children 
succeeded  in  getting  the  flock  together 
again,  but  at  last  they  were  able  to  drive 
them  farther  into  the  woods,  and  away  from 
the  dangers  of  the  cliffs,  and  were  soon 
fortunate  enough  to  come  upon  a  little  moun 
tain  stream  which  was  singing  its  way 
through  the  forest.  Here  the  goats  stopped 
willingly  to  drink,  and  for  the  first  time  the 
children  were  able  to  give  some  attention 
to  Nanni.  Her  back  was  torn  and  bloody, 
but  her  injuries  were  not  serious  and  on 
the  whole  she  seemed  little  the  worse  for 
her  experience. 

"We  must  let  all  the  goats  rest  a  little," 
said  Seppi.  " There  isn't  any  food  for 
them,  but  they  can  have  a  good  drink  while 
we  eat  our  lunch,  and  then  we  just  must 
find  that  path." 

They  sat  down  on  a  rock  and  Leneli 
opened  the  bundle  of  food  which  the  old 

98 


herdsman  had  given  them.  "  Is  n't  it  queer?  " 
said  she,  as  she  handed  Seppi  a  piece  of 
cheese,  "I  'm  not  as  scared  as  I  was  be 
fore  that  dreadful  eagle  came.  Are  you?" 

Seppi  paused  with  his  mouth  open  for  a 
bite.  "Why,  I  'm  not,  either!"  he  said  with 
surprise. 

Leneli's  eyes  grew  big.  "Seppi,"  said 
she  earnestly,  "do  you  suppose,  maybe, 
we  're  heroes  like  Peter  of  Lucerne,  after 
all,  and  never  knew  it?" 

99 


Seppi  thought  about  this  so  seriously 
that  for  a  minute  he  forgot  to  eat.  Then  he 
said,  "Why,  of  course  we  are!  We  were 
scared  but  we  did  the  right  thing!  My,  but 
I  'm  glad !  "  He  sighed  with  relief  and  took 
a  big  bite  and  munched  away  in  silence. 

At  last  he  said  solemnly,  "Of  course, 
now  that  we  know  we  really  are  heroes,  we 
won't  be  scared  any  more  !  We  '11  stop  be 
fore  we  begin! " 

Leneli  looked  doubtful.  "  I  'm  afraid  I 
shall  be  scared  again  if  we  don't  find  the 
Pass,"  she  said.  "We  might  die  up  here 
in  the  mountains  just  like  Moses  in  sight 
of  the  promised  land.  And  some  time  maybe 
a  hunter  would  find  our  bones  lying  scat 
tered  about  on  the  ground."  She  sniffed  a 
little  at  this  pathetic  picture,  and  her  eyes 
filled  with  tears. 

"Look  here,"  said  Seppi,  jumping  to  his 
feet  and  gazing  down  at  her  sternly.  "Is 
that  any  way  for  a  hero  to  talk?  They 
are  n't  going  to  find  any  bones  of  mine,  I 
can  tell  you  1  I  'm  going  to  get  down  this 

100 


mountain  with  all  the  goats,   and   so  are 
you!" 

"Well,"  said  the  heroine,  doubtfully,  "I 
was  only  supposing." 

"Well,  then,  don't  suppose  that  way," 
growled  Seppi.  "Just  suppose  we  find  the 
pass  and  get  somewhere  in  time  for  supper, 
and  get  home  to-morrow  !  " 

At  that  very  minute  a  bright  thought 
struck  him.  "What  a  silly!  "he  said.  "Why 
did  n't  I  think  of  it  before  ?  This  stream  runs 
down  hill,  and  if  we  follow  it  we  shall  have 
to  get  down  to  the  valley,  too.  Come  along ! ' ' 

He  was  in  such  a  hurry  to  carry  out  his 
idea  that  he  started  at  once  with  his  bread 
and  cheese  in  his  hand. 

"But  maybe  it  won't  be  anywhere  near 
the  village  where  the  herdsman's  home  is, 
if  we  do  get  down,"  objected  Leneli;  "we 
ought  to  find  the  path." 

"We'll  be  more  likely  to  find  it  by  fol 
lowing  the  stream,"  said  Seppi,  giving  a 
loud  blast  on  his  horn,  "and  if  we  don't 
find  that  village,  we  '11  find  another  place 

IOI 


just  as  good.  I  '11  bet  there  are  some  kind 
people  everywhere." 

Bello  was  at  that  moment  barking  down 
a  hollow  log  in  the  hope  of  catching  a  hare, 
but  he  obediently  rounded  up  the  goats 
when  Seppi  called  him,  and  the  little  cara 
van  began  to  move. 

It  was  not  so  simple  as  it  sounded.  The 
stream  had  worn  a  deep  channel  among 
the  rocks.  Trees  had  fallen  across  it,  under 
mined  by  the  swift  current.  Here  it  roared 
through  a  narrow  gorge  and  there  spread 
into  a  wide  pool,  then  again  plunged 
through  underbrush  and  among  rocks  in  its 
haste  to  reach  the  lake  far  below.  The  goats 
made  slow  progress  and,  whenever  it  was 
possible  to  do  so,  wandered  away  into 
easier  paths  and  had  to  be  driven  back. 

At  last,  to  their  great  relief,  the  children 
saw  a  break  in  the  trees,  and  they  rushed 
joyfully  forward,  only  to  find  that  the  stream 
at  this  point  leaped  over  a  cliff  in  a  water 
fall  fifty  feet  high!  The  young  explorers 
gazed  at  this  new  difficulty  without  a  word. 

IO2 


Far  below  in  the  green  valley  they  could 
see  little  white  specks  which  were  farm 
buildings,  and  tiny  villages  nestling  among 
trees  along  the  banks  of  a  wide  stream. 
They  could  even  see  the  glacier  which  fed 
this  river,  lying  like  some  huge  white  mon 
ster  along  the  valley,  its  broad  nose  thrust 
between  the  banks  on  either  side. 

" Every  time  we  think  we've  found  the 
way  out,  we  just  get  deeper  in  than  ever," 
moaned  Leneli,  at  last.  ' '  We  can' t  get  down 
this  way,  and  if  we  did  we  'd  have  to  cross 
the  glacier." 

"It  isn't  a  very  big  one,"  said  Seppi, 
looking  down  at  it. 

"You  can't  tell  from  here,"  quavered 
Leneli. 

Seppi  looked  about  him.  To  the  right 
the  forest  slopes  stretched  upward  toward 
the  mountain-top.  In  front  was  the  plunge, 
and  at  the  left  the  stream  gurgled  over  rocks 
and  stones  to  its  fall. 

"We  '11  just  have  to  cross  it,"  said  Seppi 
firmly.  He  drove  the  goats  back  a  little 

103 


way  to  a  place  where  it  was  possible  to 
ford  the  stream,  and  in  a  little  while  the 
whole  caravan  stood  dripping  on  the  far 
ther  bank. 

"I  'm  going  to  follow  along  the  edge  of 
this  cliff,"  said  Seppi,  "and  you  and  the 
goats  follow  after  me.  I  'm  sure  we  shall 
find  a  place  where  we  can  get  down.  I  '11 
keep  calling,  so  you  '11  know  which  way  to 

go-" 

He  plunged  into  the  forest  at  the  word 

and  was  lost  to  sight,  and  Leneli,  driving 
the  goats  before  her,  plunged  after  him. 
Guided  by  the  sound  of  the  waterfall,  they 
forced  their  way  through  underbrush,  over 
great  piles  of  rocks  and  around  perilous 
curves,  seeking  always  the  lower  levels, 
until  at  last,  when  she  was  almost  ready  to 
give  up  in  despair,  Leneli  heard  a  joyful 
shout  from  Seppi  and,  hastening  forward, 
found  him  at  the  edge  of  the  forest,  looking 
out  over  a  wide  range  of  foothills.  The 
forest  was  now  behind  them,  and  before 
them  lay  green  slopes  spangled  like  the 

104 


stars  in  the  milky  way  with  yellow  daffodils 
and  blue  gentians. 

The  goats,  wild  with  delight  at  seeing 
fresh  pasturage,  leaped  forward  and  began 
to  browse,  and  dear  old  Bello  sat  down  on 
his  haunches  with  his  tongue  hanging  out 
and  gazed  upon  the  scene  as  benevolently 
as  if  his  own  stomach  were  full  instead  of 
empty.  The  children  were  so  weary  they 
threw  themselves  down  in  the  grass  beside 
him  to  rest. 

105 


Now  that  they  had  escaped  the  perils  of 
the  forest,  it  almost  seemed  to  them  for  a 
little  while  as  if  their  troubles  were  over, 
but  by  and  by  Seppi  sat  up  and  studied  the 
scene  before  them.  He  looked  past  the  long 
slopes  to  the  glacier  and  the  river  in  the 
valley  below. 

''We've  got  to  get  across  that  some 
how,"  he  said  to  Leneli,  at  last,  pointing  to 
the  stream,  "  and  there  are  only  two  ways 
of  doing  it.  When  we  get  down  there,  we 
must  either  go  through  the  river,  or  across 
the  glacier  which  feeds  it." 

"We  can't  go  through  it,"  answered  Le 
neli.  "We  don't  know  how  deep  it  is." 

"Then  it  will  have  to  be  the  glacier," 
said  Seppi,  "and  I'm  glad  goats  are  so 
sure-footed.  We  'd  better  start  along,  for 
it 's  getting  later  every  minute,  and  I  'm 
bound  to  reach  that  farm-house  before 
dark."  He  pointed  to  a  speck  in  the  dis 
tance. 

"Oh,  dear,"  sighed  Leneli,  as  she  fol 
lowed  his  finger  with  her  eye,  "  it 's  like  dy- 

106 


ing  to  get  to  heaven!  Suppose  we  fall  into 
cracks  in  the  glacier?" 

"  You  're  the  worst  supposer  I  ever  saw," 
snapped  Seppi.  "  Suppose  we  don't  fall  in! 
Suppose  we  get  across  all  right  with  all  the 
goats,  and  suppose  there  's  a  good  woman 
at  the  farm-house  who  feeds  us,  and  Bello 
too !  Suppose  she  gives  us  ...  what  would 
you  like  best  for  supper,  Leneli  ?  " 

"Oh!"  cried  Leneli,  clasping  her  hands, 
"soup  and  pancakes! " 

"Hurry  up,  then,"  said  Seppi.  "We  shall 
surely  never  get  them,  nor  anything  else, 
by  staying  here." 

Leneli  struggled  to  her  feet,  and  once 
more  they  moved  forward.  Half  an  hour 
of  brisk  walking  brought  them  to  the  edge 
of  the  glacier,  and  here  Seppi  arranged 
their  marching  order. 

"I'll  go  first,"  he  said,  "the  same  as  a 
guide,  then  the  goats,  and  then  you  and 
Bello.  You  must  watch  every  step,  and 
keep  sticking  in  your  alpenstock  to  be  sure 
you  are  on  solid  ice.  If  you  don't,  you 

107 


might  strike  a  hollow  place  and  fall  through 
the  crust." 

"I  '11  be  careful,"  said  Leneli. 

"  All  right,  then!  here  we  go!"  said  Seppi. 
"I  can  just  smell  those  pancakes!"  and 
with  that  he  set  out  across  the  river  of  ice. 

The  children  understood  very  well  the 
dangers  of  the  glaciers.  It  was  not  simply 
a  frozen  stream  on  which  one  might  skate. 
It  was  a  great  slow-moving,  grinding  ava 
lanche  of  ice  and  rocks,  full  of  seams  and 
cracks  and  holes,  which  was  creeping  stead 
ily  down  the  valley.  The  river  formed  by 
the  melting  snows,  gushed  forth  from  be 
neath  it  and  rushed  away  to  join  the  lake 
still  far  below. 

Even  the  goats  knew  it  was  a  perilous 
journey,  and  besides  they  were  unwilling 
to  leave  the  rich  grass  of  the  fields,  so  it 
was  with  some  difficulty  that  they  were 
finally  driven  forward  upon  the  glacier. 
Seppi  led  the  way,  blowing  on  his  little  horn 
to  encourage  them,  trying  every  step  with 
his  stick,  and  waiting  for  them  to  catch  up 

1 08 


before  going  farther.  They  were  nearly  half 
way  across,  when  Seppi  stopped  and  called 
to  Leneli  to  stand  still.  There  in  front  of  him 
yawned  a  wide  crevasse.  The  frozen  river 
had  cracked  open,  and  if  they  went  forward 
in  a  straight  line  they  would  plunge  down 
into  an  ice  prison  from  which  they  could 
never  escape  alive. 

It  was  the  hardest  puzzle  and  the  great 
est  danger  they  had  met  in  their  whole 
journey,  and  for  a  minute  poor  Seppi  al 
most  gave  up  in  despair.  He  thought  they 
would  have  to  go  back  and  try  the  river 
after  all.  Shouting  to  Leneli  to  keep  the 
goats  together  if  she  could,  he  turned  and 
made -his  way  up-stream  along  the  edge  of 
the  crevasse.  It  grew  narrower  as  he  fol 
lowed  it,  and  broke  into  a  number  of  smaller 
cracks. 

The  only  way  to  get  to  the  other  side 
was  to  follow  along  these  smaller  cracks 
where  they  made  a  crooked  natural  bridge 
across  the  chasm.  Even  Seppi's  stout  heart 
quailed  a  little  as  he  gazed  down  into  the 

109 


depths  of  the  huge  rifts.  The  walls  of  ice 
gleamed  with  wonderful  greens  and  blues, 
but  he  had  no  heart  to  admire  the  beautiful 
colors. 

"Remember  Peter  of  Lucerne,  and  come 
on,"  he  shouted  back  to  Leneli,  and  without 
another  word  started  across  the  treacherous 
ice  bridge.  It  made  no  difference  whether 
she  was  frightened  or  not,  Leneli  simply 
had  to  follow  him  even  though  the  goats, 
sure-footed  as  they  were,  shrank  from  the 
journey,  and  Bello  hung  back  and  whined. 

"  Follow  exactly  in  my  footsteps,"  shouted 
Seppi,  and  Leneli  swallowed  a  lump  in  her 
throat,  grasped  her  alpenstock  more  firmly 
and  went  forward. 

"Don't  look  down  into  the  hole!  Look 
at  the  bridge  across  it!"  shouted  Seppi. 

He  stepped  carefully  forward,  finding 
solid  footing  with  his  stick  before  each  step, 
and  in  a  short  time  stood  safely  on  the  other 
side  of  the  chasm.  There  he  waited  and 
held  his  breath,  while  the  goats  picked  their 
way  daintily  across  the  ice  bridge  after  him, 

no 


y.&^ 

">*,  "V*-'"^./ 

s*  —x          i 

^  N      \    "'"<•         'vi'iijilii^. 

"%:'•*, 


* 


'••i      K 


and  when  Leneli  and  Bello  at  last  reached 

t 

his  side,  he  hugged  them  both  for  joy. 

"There,"  he  said,  "there  can't  be  any 
thing  worse  than  that,  and  we  '11  soon  be 
on  green  grass  again." 

They  passed  other  smaller  crevasses,  but 
they  could  make  their  way  around  the  ends 
of  these,  and  it  was  not  long  before  they  had 
scrambled  over  the  rocks  at  the  glacier's 


in 


edge  and  once  more  stood  on  solid  ground. 
Even  Bello  seemed  to  realize  that  their 
troubles  were  now  nearly  over,  for  he 
barked  and  ran  round  them  in  circles  and 
leaped  up  with  his  paws  on  their  shoulders 
to  give  them  dog  kisses,  and,  as  for  his  tail 
—  he  nearly  wagged  it  loose  in  his  joy.  The 
goats  sprang  forward  to  reach  the  grass, 
and  when  the  children  drove  them  on, 
snatched  greedy  mouthfuls  as  they  passed. 
The  children  could  see  the  farm-house 
growing  from  a  mere  speck  larger  and 
larger  as  they  came  down  the  valley  toward 
it,  and  at  last  the  little  group  of  stragglers 
pattered  into  the  door-yard. 

The  noise  of  bleating  goats  and  a  barking 
dog  brought  the  farmer's  wife  to  the  door, 
and  for  a  moment  she  stood  there  with  her 
baby  in  her  arms  and  looked  down  at  them 
in  astonishment,  just  as  the  old  herdsman 
had  done  on  the  mountain. 

"Where  in  the  world  did  you  come 
from?"  she  cried  at  last.  "Who  are  you? 
and  what  do  you  want  here  ?  " 

112 


Leneli  opened  her  mouth  to  answer,  but 
when  she  saw  the  woman's  kind  face,  and 
the  baby  sucking  its  thumb  and  looking  at 
them  solemnly,  it  reminded  her  so  of  her 
mother  and  Baby  Roseli  that,  instead  of  ex 
plaining,  she  burst  into  tears. 

The  woman  clattered  down  the  steps  at 


once,  put  her  free  arm  around  Leneli,  and 
patted  her  comfortingly,  while  Seppi  told 
her  their  story.  Before  he  had  got  farther 
than  the  avalanche  part  of  it,  she  seemed  to 
guess  all  the  rest.  It  was  not  the  first  time 
that  people  had  been  lost  on  the  mountain. 

"  Come  right  in  this  minute,"  she  cried. 
"Don't  stop  to  talk!  You  must  be  as  hun 
gry  as  wolves.  I  '11  get  you  something  to 
eat,  and  then  you  can  tell  me  every  word." 

"Please,"  said  Leneli  timidly,  drying  her 
tears,  "could  you  give  Bello  something 
first?  The  goats  have  had  a  little  grass 
and  we  had  some  bread  and  cheese,  but 
Bello  has  n't  had  a  bite  all  day." 

"Bless  my  soul!"  said  the  woman. 
"What  a  little  woman  it  is,  to  think  first  of 
the  dog!  Here,"  she  cried  to  Seppi;  "take 
this  bone  to  him  right  away,  and  shut  up 
the  goats  in  the  barn-yard.  Then  come 
back  and  I  '11  give  you  whatever  you  like 
best,  if  I've  got  it!" 

"If  you  please,  ma'am,"  said  Seppi,  his 
eyes  shining,  "up  on  the  mountain  when 

114 


we  were  lost,  we  saw  your  house  and  we  just 
supposed  that  maybe  you  might  have  soup 
and  pancakes!" 

"  Bless  my  soul ! "  cried  the  woman. 
"  Soup  and  pancakes  it  shall  be,  and  that 's 
soon  ready ! " 

She  put  the  baby  into  Leneli's  arms  and 
"5 


flew  about  the  kitchen,  rattling  pots  and 
pans,  stirring  up  the  fire,  and  mixing  her 
batter ;  and  when  Seppi  returned,  the  smell 
of  pancakes  was  already  in  the  air,  and 
the  soup  was  bubbling  in  the  pot.  In  five 
minutes  more  the  children  were  seated  at 
the  kitchen  table  with  steaming  bowls  be 
fore  them,  while  their  new  friend  cooked  a 
pile  of  pancakes  that  it  would  have  warmed 
the  cockles  of  your  heart  to  see. 

The  farmer  himself  was  far  away  on  the 
high  alps  with  his  cattle,  and  came  down 
the  mountain  only  once  in  a  while  with  a 
load  of  cheeses  on  his  back.  His  wife  was 
very  lonely  in  his  absence  and  was  glad  to 
have  company,  if  only  for  a  single  night; 
so  she  comforted  the  children  and  talked 
with  them  about  their  mother,  and  piled 
pancakes  on  their  plates  until  they  could 
not  hold  another  mouthful.  Then  she  helped 
them  milk  the  goats,  and  when  the  sun 
went  down,  sent  them  to  bed  so  they  would 
be  well  rested  for  their  long  walk  the  next 
day. 


VI 
NEW  FRIENDS  AND  OLD 


VI 
NEW  FRIENDS  AND  OLD 

WHEN  the  children  came  into  the  kitchen 
the  next  morning,  they  found  their  new 
friend  beating  mush  and  milk  together  for 
their  breakfast,  and  there  was  a  smell  of 
coffee  in  the  air. 

"  Sit  right  down  and  eat,"  said  she,  push 
ing  a  stool  toward  the  table  with  her  foot. 
"  I  Ve  milked  the  goats  for  you.  They  did 
n't  give  much,  poor  things,  and  it 's  no 
wonder,  after  such  a  day  as  they  had  yester 
day  !  The  wonder  is  that  they  gave  any  at 
all.  I  've  made  coffee  for  you,  for  you  've 
a  long  day  ahead  of  you,  and  it  will  cheer 
up  your  insides.  It 's  a  lucky  thing  for  you 
the  day  is  so  fine.  I  thought  I  heard  it  rain 
in  the  night,  but  old  Pilatus'  head  has  no 
cloud  cap  this  morning,  and  he  is  a  good 
weather  prophet." 

119 


The  baby  was  already  seated  in  her  high 
chair  at  the  table,  beating  upon  it  with  a 
spoon  to  welcome  them,  and  the  children 
were  soon  seated  beside  her  putting  away 
a  great  store  of  the  good  mush.  The  farm 
er's  wife  had  no  one  but  the  baby  to  talk 
to  during  the  long  days  when  her  husband 
was  away,  and  she  made  the  most  of  her 
time  while  the  children  were  with  her.  She 
told  them  all  about  her  cows  and  her  pigs 
and  her  chickens,  just  how  much  hay  her 
husband  brought  down  from  his  highland 
meadow  on  his  back  the  previous  summer, 
and  how  many  cheeses  he  expected  to  bring 
home  from  the  alp  at  the  end  of  the  sea 
son.  And  when  at  last  they  had  eaten  all 
they  could,  she  put  up  a  lunch  for  them, 
and  gave  them  full  directions  for  reaching 
their  own  village. 

"It's  not  hard  at  all,"  said  she,  "for 
though  it  is  still  a  long  way  to  the  foot  of 
the  mountain,  you  've  only  to  follow  the 
road,  and  if  you  don't  know  which  turn  to 
take  at  a  cross-roads,  there  '11  always  be 

120 


somebody  to  ask  somewhere  along  the  way. 
If  you  could  get  so  far  down  the  mountain 
and  across  the  glacier  by  yourselves  you  've 
nothing  to  fear  now,  and  you  'd  better  make 
all  the  speed  you  can,  for  my  heart  bleeds 
for  your  poor  mother.  She  must  be  half 
dead  with  anxiety  by  now." 

She  kissed  them  good-bye  at  the  door 
and  stood  with  her  baby  on  her  arm,  gaz 
ing  after  them  when  they  drove  the  goats 
out  of  the  door-yard  and  started  down  the 
highway  toward  their  home.  They  did  not 
forget  to  thank  their  kind  hostess,  and  after 
they  had  started  turned  again  and  again  to 
Wave  a  farewell  to  her.  She  waved  to  them 
in  return,  and  the  baby  also  fluttered  her 
tiny  pink  hand  until  they  were  quite  out  of 
sight. 

"We  '11  never  forget  her,  shall  we?"  said 
Leneli. 

"Never,"  answered  Seppi,  fervently. 
"She 's  almost  as  good  as  Mother!  And 
does  n't  she  make  good  pancakes,  though?" 

They    set   their    faces    northward    and 


trudged  along,  hurrying  rather  than  slack 
ing  their  speed  as  the  miles  lengthened  be 
hind  them,  for  as  the  distance  between  them 
and  their  home  shortened,  their  eagerness 
to  get  there  increased.  It  was  a  good  twelve 
miles  from  the  farm-house  where  they  had 
spent  the  night  to  their  own  village,  and  a 
mile  this  side  of  the  village  and  a  mile 
up  the  mountain-slope  was  their  own  dear 
home.  This,  to  the  sturdy  Swiss  boy  and 
girl,  brought  up  in  the  mountains,  was  not 
a  hard  walk,  but  they  knew  that  goats  must 
not  be  driven  too  fast  if  they  are  expected 
to  give  any  milk,  so  it  was  late  afternoon 
before  the  cavalcade  reached  the  foot  of 
their  own  hill-side  and  began  the  last  climb 
of  the  weary  journey. 

The  children  could  see  their  own  roof, 
weighted  down  by  stones,  peeping  over  the 
edge  of  the  hill  long  before  they  were  any 
where  near  it,  and  they  fastened  their  home 
sick  eyes  upon  it  as  a  sailor  fixes  his  upon 
the  North  Star  at  sea.  Now  they  could  see 
the  whole  house,  with  the  goat-shed  and 


122 


cow-stables  back  of  it,  the  straw-stack,  and 
the  southern  slope  of  the  garden. 

They  strained  their  eyes  for  a  glimpse 
of  their  mother,  but  there  was  no  move 
ment  to  be  seen  anywhere  about  the  place. 
Even  the  breeze  had  died  down,  so  there 
was  not  so  much  as  a  flutter  among  the 
trees  as  they  drew  nearer  and  nearer.  At 
last,  unable  to  hold  themselves  back  longer, 
they  broke  into  a  run  and  came  dashing 
into  the  yard  with  all  the  goat-bells  jingling, 
Bello  barking,  and  their  own  voices  raised 
in  a  joyful  shout:  "Mother,  Mother,  where 
are  you?  We  're  home! " 

But  to  their  surprise  and  great  disap 
pointment,  there  was  no  answer.  The  house 
was  as  still  as  if  it  were  asleep.  Leaving 
the  goats  to  Bello,  the  children  dashed  into 
the  kitchen.  There  was  no  one  there,  and 
there  was  no  sound  but  the  loud  tick-tock 
of  the  cuckoo  clock.  They  dashed  upstairs 
to  the  bedrooms  and  back  again  to  the 
kitchen.  Everywhere  silence. 

"It's  just  as  if  the  house  were  dead  when 

127 


Mother  is  n't  in  it,"  sobbed  Leneli.  ''Where 
can  she  be?  And  Roseli  too! " 

"Roseli  is  where  Mother  is,  you  may  be 
sure,"  said  Seppi. 

They  ran  outdoors  again,  and  found 
Bello  barking  madly  at  Nanni,  who  was 
having  a  blissful  time  with  the  carrot-tops, 
which  she  refused  to  leave  even  when 
Bello,  who  knew  very  well  she  should  n't 
be  in  the  garden  at  all,  nipped  at  her  heels. 

"We  '11  have  to  shut  up  the  goats,"  said 
Seppi,  as  he  ran  to  Bello's  assistance. 

They  drove  them  into  the  shed,  gave 
them  some  hay,  and  then  rested  their  weary 
legs  for  a  moment,  sitting  on  the  kitchen 
steps,  while  they  considered  what  to  do 
next. 

Then  an  awful  thought  struck  Leneli. 
"The  avalanche!"  she  gasped.  "Maybe 
she  was  caught  by  it!" 

Seppi  grew  pale  and  gulped  down  a  sob. 
"  No,"  he  said,  when  after  a  moment  he 
could  speak.  "I  don't  believe  it!  There's 
no  sign  of  the  avalanche  about  here,  and 

124 


Mother  never  goes  away  from  home.  She 's 
trying  to  find  us  ;  that 's  what  she's  doing!" 

Leneli  collapsed  on  the  step.  "  Oh,  Seppi," 
she  cried,  "do  you  suppose  she's  lost  on 
the  mountain  just  as  we  've  found  ourselves 
and  got  home  again?"  The  thought  was 
too  much  for  her,  and  she  sobbed  afresh. 

"Well,"  said  Seppi,  "crying  won't  do 
any  good.  Let 's  go  and  see  if  we  can  find 
her." 

Weary  as  they  were,  they  started  at  once 
to  their  feet  to  begin  this  new  quest,  even 
though  the  shadows  were  long  across  the 
flower-starred  mountain-slopes  and  the  sun 
was  already  sinking  toward  the  west. 

As  they  rounded  the  corner  of  the  house, 
Seppi  gave  a  joyful  shout  and  pointed  up 
the  goat-path  toward  the  mountain.  There, 
a  long  distance  off,  they  saw  their  mother 
coming  toward  them  with  Baby  Roseli  in 
her  arms !  Even  at  that  distance  they  could 
see  that  she  looked  weary  and  sad,  for  her 
head  drooped  and  her  step  was  slow. 

All  their  own  weariness  vanished  like 
125 


magic  at  sight  of  her,  and  with  a  shout  that 
waked  the  echoes  on  old  Pilatus  they 
bounded  up  the  path  to  meet  her. 

She  heard  the  shout,  and,  shading  her 
eyes  with  her  hand,  looked  eagerly  in  the 
direction  of  the  sound,  and  in  another  min 
ute  mother  and  children  were  clasped  in 
each  other's  arms,  while  Baby  Roseli  crowed 
with  delight  from  a  nest  in  the  midst  of 
grass  and  flowers  where  she  had  been  sud 
denly  deposited. 

For  a  moment  they  gave  themselves  up 
to  the  joy  of  reunion,  then  Seppi  said 
proudly:  "We  brought  the  goats  safely 
home,  Mother.  They  are  all  in  the  shed." 

"I  thought  you  had  been  swallowed  up 
by  the  avalanche,"  sobbed  their  mother, 
clasping  them  again  to  her  heart.  "All  the 
men  of  the  village  are  now  up  the  moun 
tain-side  searching  for  you  and  trying  to 
break  a  fresh  path  to  the  goat-pastures. 
They  must  be  told  that  you  are  safe." 

She  sprang  to  her  feet,  and  started  back 
up  the  path.  Then  she  thought  of  Seppi's 

126 


horn.  ''Blow,"  she  cried,  "blow  Fritz's 
tune  if  you  can.  They  all  know  it,  and  some 
of  them  are  near  enough  to  hear." 

Seppi  put  the  horn  to  his  lips  and  blew. 
At  first  it  was  only  a  dismal  squawk ;  then, 

127 


though  it  sounded  much  like  the  crowing  of 
a  young  rooster  in  imitation  of  an  old  one, 
he  did  manage  to  achieve  the  first  few  notes 
of  Fritz's  tune.  Soon  a  head  appeared  above 
a  rock  far  up  the  trail,  then  a  whole  man 
scrambled  to  the  top  of  it  and  gazed  earn 
estly  at  the  little  group  in  the  path  below. 

Again  Seppi  sounded  his  horn,  his  mother 
flung  out  her  apron  like  a  flag  of  victory, 
and  all  of  them,  including  Roseli,  waved 
their  arms  so  joyously  that  there  was  no 
mistaking  the  message.  With  an  answering 
shout  the  man  dropped  out  of  sight  again 
behind  the  rock,  and  a  few  moments  later 
they  saw  him  running  down  the  hillside 
toward  the  village. 

Soon  the  church-bell  was  clanging  joy 
fully  from  the  belfry,  carrying  the  news  of 
the  wanderers'  safe  return  to  every  one 
within  hearing  distance.  Bells  from  the  ad 
joining  village  joined  the  clamor,  and  horns 
answering  from  distant  crags  told  the  glad 
news.  The  toilers  on  the  mountain-side 
heard  and  rejoiced. 

128 


From  the  cliffs  where  the  echoes  lived 
came  shout  after  shout,  and  soon  the  women 
of  the  village,  who  had  been  watching  with 
the  distracted  mother  and  helping  in  the 
work  of  the  men,  came  hurrying  down  the 
goat-path  to  welcome  the  wanderers  and 
rejoice  over  their  safe  return.  They  were 
joined  by  one  and  another  of  the  men  as 
they  returned  from  the  mountain-side,  until 
quite  a  group  had  gathered  in  the  blossom 
ing  field  to  hear  the  children  tell  the  story 
of  their  perilous  adventures.  They  were 
standing  thus  when  the  sun  dipped  behind 
the  western  hills  and  the  Angelus  once  more 
called  the  countryside  to  prayer.  With  grate 
ful  hearts  and  bowed  heads,  neighbors  and 
friends  gave  thanks  to  God  for  his  mercies, 
then  scattered  to  their  own  firesides,  leaving 
the  happy  mother  and  children  together. 

When  they  entered  the  kitchen  of  the  old 
farm-house  once  more,  the  tiny  wooden 
cuckoo  hopped  out  of  his  tiny  wooden  door 
and  shouted  "cuckoo"  seven  times,  and 
when  they  had  eaten  their  supper,  and  the 

129 


children  sat  beside  the  great  stove  telling 
their  mother  all  over  again  about  the  old 
herdsman,  and  the  eagle,  and  the  farmer's 
wife,  and  all  the  other  events  of  their  three 
days  on  the  mountain,  the  cuckoo  waited 
fifteen  whole  minutes  beyond  the  hour  be 
fore  he  could  make  up  his  mind  to  remind 
them  of  bed-time.  Then  he  stuck  his  head 
out  once  more  and  cried  " cuckoo"  quite 
hysterically  eight  times.  Even  then  they 
lingered  to  talk  about  Father  and  Fritz  far 
away  in  the  high  alps,  and  of  how  glad 
they  were  that  they  knew  nothing  of  the 
dangers  and  anxieties  they  had  just  been 
through. 

"Dear  me!"  said  the  mother,  rising  at 
last,  "how  fast  the  time  goes  when  we  are 
happy!  It's  long  past  your  bed  hour,  and 
you  must  be  very  tired.  We  must  stop 
talking  this  very  minute  !  " 

She  sent  the  children  upstairs,  tucked 
them  in  bed,  heard  their  prayers,  and  kissed 
them  good-night.  Then  she  came  back  to 
the  kitchen,  patted  Bello,  who  was  sound 

130 


asleep  on  the  doorstep,  looked  at  the  moon 
rising  over  the  crest  of  Rigi,  fastened  the 
door,  pulled  up  the  weights  to  wind  the 
clock,  and,  taking  her  candle,  went  upstairs 
to  bed  herself 


When  at  last  the  sound  of  her  footsteps 
ceased,  and  the  house  was  quiet  for  the 
night,  the  cuckoo  stuck  out  his  head  and 
looked  about  the  silent  kitchen.  The  moon 
light  streamed  in  at  the  eastern  window, 
the  little  mouse  was  creeping  from  her  hole, 
and  the  shadows  were  whispering  together 
in  corners. 

"On  the  whole,"  said  the  cuckoo  to  him 
self,  "I  think  I  've  managed  this  thing  very 
well.  Every  one  is  happy  again,  and  now 
I  can  take  a  little  rest  myself.  The  past 
three  days  have  been  very  wearying  to  one 
with  my  responsibilities." 

"Cuckoo,"  he  called  nine  times,  then  the 
tiny  wooden  door  clapped  shut,  and  he  too 
went  to  sleep. 


3  1158  00322  1081 


SOUTHERN  BRAi\Cht, 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA, 

LIBRARY, 

t  OS  ANGELES.  CALIF. 

UC  SOUTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY  FACILITY 


A  A      000253842    9 


